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SYNOPSIS 



OF 



I^OLXTZCA.IL ISSUES, 



FOR THE 



PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1872. 



WQ'M '^MEMBEJfff'^ 



V,Y 



Formerly Editor of Civil Service Journal. 



"w^jLsmisra-aroisr, x). c. 
June, 1872. 



t.G'-] S 



N/ 






Tho tlirco pamphlets within boun.l, toircther with one prepared Uiafc year, en- 
ritl.Mi: -'Tiik R>;publican Party— Tiik Workixoman's Friend," aro herewith pre- 
^.Mitcil to my personal and politi(."il friends, as my contribution for the ensuing 

• ampaifcn. ., , 

BLdiuvinir that it is the most 8ok>mn duty of every citizen to aid the country 

with his host thoughts, these political essays have been prepared as a free gift, 

without expectation of pecuniary or ofticial reward. 

These essays, thoiigh designed to secure the success of the Republican party, 
have nevertheless higher aims. The discussions of the nature and scope of Gov- 
ernment, of Industrial E.lucation, Labor, Tariff and Civil Service Eeform, 
C'Orporation, and National Fire Insurance, have an independent value, and are de- 
si-'ued to excite attention to objects of permanent importance. 

y^'on tlxc most advanced political organization does not afford full expression to 
the rofo--matory ideas of thepolitir'al student and thinker. Parties are the exponents 
of the average man and not of the philosopher. But thinkers will find it advisable to 
use majority^ instead of minority parties, to popularize their ideas, when they will 
Booner or later find their way into party platforms and statute books. It is for 
this reason that the "New Issues" aro tentatively and cautiously treated, and many 
issues more remote, but equally important, are entirely omitted. 

Twenty years of earnest toil in the fields of social, educational and political re- 
t;-)rm have tauf^ht mo the all important lesson— "to labor and to wait." It is not 
best to plant ideas, with the impatience of children, who dig for the seed they have 
])lanted every day, to find that it has not sprouted. Nor is it of any consequence 
to the world's progress that the author shouUl be known; for the good he may 
have done is perennial and eternal. i i, • <.• 

In the economy of the univei-^i), human lives must bo worn out like lubricating 
oil so that the ponderous whoMmay move in its own way. Eagerness for the 
gpeedy fruition of ideas, and th*d.e3ire for personal triumph, are the rocky coast 
which is strewn with the wrecks of disappaiuted great men and retormers. 

Our duty is, never to quarrel with the world as it is, but to sow m perfect taith, 
believino- that the true will overcome the false in its own good time. It is only 
those who care more for tho recognition of truth than of self, and who are in- 
different to personal applause, can hope to remain serene and undisturbed, 
wrapped in their own individuality, whan persons, deft in tho classification ot pea- 
nut shells, and skilled in intrigue, outstrip them in the race of life. ^ 

To my personal and political friends, and to all those with whom my advice 
and iudgment may have weight, those pamphlets are respectfully dedicated. May 
they subordinate personal grievances and minor differences fortho good of the great 
cause, and labor with dilligence and eathusiasm, so that +'i3 peaceful and steady 
progress which the Eepublican party has inaugurated may be continued tor tho next; 

^Tovhigly, and the grand mission of the 

Americannatiou, as a father would judge a wayward child, If us I'^gard tno 
errors of the present, and fail not to remember that wo are tho freest, mos. proa- 
poroua, and most favored uation upon the globe* tttjeD MYERS 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 



THE 



ST^ISTD^RD-BE^EER 



OF 



AND 



NATIONAL PROGRESS, 



INTRODUCTORY. 

As the Greelis, in their earlier and better days, met 
every fourth year to engage in the Olympic contests, 
which crystalized traditions, renewed the pledges of 
patriotic devotion, and awakened intellectual and dra- 
malic activity ; so arc we about to engage in a quad- 
rennial contest, which involves a general review and 
discussion of political questions in every township of 
our land. 

Whether the campaign shall be profitable to the 
government and nation ; whether the incDming admin- 
istration shall receive new political light and instruc- 
tiou ; and whether our citizens shall come out of the 
contest more iiatrioficand better qualified to discharge 
their electoral functions, depends very much upon the 
manner in which public questions are presented. It 
is true, efforts are being made to usher ia a warfare of 
bad odors which even the Chinese have abandoned; to 
draggle the flags in the mire ; and to overwhelm the 
better and honest judgment of the voters by the vehe- 
ment explosion of vile epithets; but confident of the 
intelligence of our citizens, we shall pass by these ef- 
forts with silent contempt, and present the affirmative 
issues of the campaign for discussion not t'owcussion, 
so that prejudice may be laid aside and the contest de- 
cided upon the'merits of the great cause. 

The demands of civilization upon government are 
numerous, complicated, and ever increasing, and the 
experiment of popular self-government has very rarely 
succeeded. Ours, in fact, is the only government upon 
a large scale which is peacefully administered and 
solely dependent upon the Intelligence, virtue and 
patriotism of all the people. And inasmuch as the bal- 



lot of the ignorant and vicious man counts as much as 
that of the wisest and greatest, a great responsibiiity 
rests upon the honest citizen to exert all his influence to 
everbalance the vicious elements of society, and to sus- 
tain those principles of administration, which lead to 
national permanency and greatness. Not only is our 
own national and individual security and prosperity at 
stake, but also that of all future generations. 

It is not merely the right, but the imperative duty of 
each citizen to demand a truthful exhibit of the stew- 
ardship of the Republican party and the administra- 
tion which executed its will ; and for this purpose we 
present herewith a bird's eye view of its activities, 
tendencies, and achievements in the various branches 
of governmental affairs. But as all political docu- 
ments must be brief to receive general perusal, we 
only give the outlines, which each reader can fill out 
with collateral suggestions, 

A SKETCH OF DEMOCRATIC TIMES. 

Foremost among these achievements we place all 
legislative acts to secure the personal freedom of the 
citizen, but before we can realize the progress made in 
this direction we must briefly sketch the political situa- 
tion. Only ten years ago, between three and four mil- 
lions of human beings were subject to bargain and 
sale like the cattle of the field, and prohibited by law 
from learning even to read or write; the press, the 
forum, and even the pulpit, in more than one-half of 
the Union, defended this accursed tyranny; freedom 
of discussion was entirely suppressed in the South, 
and accompanied by perils in the North ; the strong ■ 
arm of the government was invoked to thrust back 
into this seething hell of slavery all ventursome vie- 



tims who fled across the border ; and a gigantic rebel- 
lion was deliberately organized to uphold this crime 
against civilization. When Liacoln was inaugurated, 
the nation was without armament or supplies; with- 
out an army or a navy ; and without money, or credit 
abroad. Well do we recollect the indolent proposal of 
the London Tmies which stated, that if the Americans 
were determined to cut each others throats, England 
might be induced to loan the North fifty millions of 
dollars^, if it pawned its growing wheat crop; and to 
the South a double amount sa a morlgage upon its cot- 
ton. Treachery and treason lurked, not only in the 
Executive Departments but had even saturated a large, 
wealthy, powerful, and talented minority of the North. 
New systems had to be created under difficulties so 
great and an opposition so fierce, that the achieve- 
ments of the American peonle— as represented by the 
Republican organization — shine forth like a constella- 
tion of suns illumining the political pathway of all 
future geucralions. 

LEaiSLATION FOR PERSONAL LIBERTY. 

On the 4th of July, 1861, Lincoln assembled Con- 
gress in extra session which was chiefly devoted to the 
inaugi'ration of war measures, but during the long 
sess-on a series of acts followed in rapid succession, 
striking at the slave system. As early as August, 1801, 
an act was passed to free all slaves used in aid of the 
rebellion. In the succeeding March, our military and 
naval officers were prohibited from returning the fugi- 
tive slaves that might seek the protection of our flag ; 
and in April, the National Capital was forever freed 
from the blighting influences of human slavery. 
These measures were followed by acts more radical as 
rapidly as they were sustained by public opinion. The 
statute of June, 19th, 18G2, swept slavery from all the 
Territories of the United States, and thus, Jefferson's 
Ordinance of 1787, was reaffirmed as the policy of the 
National government ; and the act of January 28, 1864, 
repealed the fugitive slave act, which for years had 
been a blot upon our National escutcheon. Thus sla- 
very was inhibited wherever the National Government 
had exclusive jurisdiction, and the hesitation of Con- 
gress to strike it down in the rebel and border States, 
was owing to its intrenchment behind the theory of 
State Rights, and the support it received from the 
Democratic minority in the North, which in the fall ot 
1802, carried the elections in a number of States. In 
Januar3% ISOS, Lincoln's Emancipation Froclamation 
was issued, which virtually aboliiihed slavery, but to 
place the perional liberty of the freedmen beyond the 
reach of party majorities and Congressional interfer- 
ence, the Thirteenth Constitutional amendment was 
adopted and ratified — every Repubkcan State legisla- 
ture endorsing and every Democratic State rejecting 
this great charter of personal libertj-. 

It is true this coustiiutional compact struck the fet- 
ters from the slaves in law, but it soon became evident 
that without enfranchisement their liberty would be 
but nominal and a mockery, because, under vagrant 
and other oppressive laws, their former masters, who 
were the sole law-givers, would make the situation of 



the freedmen, in a material point of view, even worse 
than before. Thus the alternative was presented of 
maintaining a standing army to enforce the Thirteenth 
Amendment, or to give the ballot to the freedmen for 
their own protection. It was considered a dangerous 
experiment, and the struggle was long and fierce. The 
Fourteenth Amendment was adopted as a compromise; 
but in January, 1867, despite the veto and active op- 
position of Johnson, who, after his apostacy traduced 
these measures and the party, if not with the same 
ability certainly with equal zeal, as the malcontents of 
the Senate do to-day; an act was adopted enfranchising 
the freedmen in all the Territories of the United States. 
In February, 1869, the personal freedom and the 
right of self-government was secured to all citizens by 
the ratification of the Fifteenth Constitutional Amend- 
ment; and thus the work of a century was crowded 
into five years. 

FOR EDUCATION. 

Next to the franchise stands education. As edge 
tools are dangerous to children, so the ballot is a 
means of destruction to the ignorant and vicious. The 
Republican party is fully alive to the vital importance 
of this subject; and it it has not accomplished all that 
its most progressive leaders have advocated, it has 
made decided progress in the right direction. 

Already in May, 1S62, finding, that at the National 
Capital, the public school system had been squelched 
by slavery,' which lived upon the degradation of the 
laboring classes, both white and black, Congress 
ordered that a sufficient amount of taxes be levied and 
apportioned for the support of free schools for both 
classes. Up to that time the Capital of the nation, 
with nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants, owned not 
a single suitable and comfortable school building; the 
blacks, of course, were not taught, and the fjw schools 
popularly called pauper and ragged schools that were 
maintained by the proceeds of fines and the dog tax, 
were situated in shop and stable lofts. Now we have 
a number of wt:ll appointed school houses, both for 
the whites and the blacks, and the educational sys 
tems of both have made reasonable progress. 

In July, 18C2, the act was passed which donated 
large tracts of lands for the maintainance of Agricul- 
tural and Mining schools in the various States and 
Territories. In some States these colleges have at- 
tained a high degree of usefulness, while the germs of 
progress have been planted in all. In January, 1S63, 
when large numbers of soldiers were quartered in 
Washington, a free library and reading room for the 
use of soldiers and sailors was established. In the 
following March, Howard University was incorporated, 
whose usefulness to the colored race has been very 
great. It affords the aspiring youth of that proscribed 
race — proscribed by public sentiment in many places 
yet — an opportunity to study law, medicine and science 
in a manner so thorough that its graduates will take 
high rank among those of other Universities. The 
graduates of that institution will do credit, not only to 
their race, but to the American nation. In ISOO, the 
Department of Education was established, which, al- 



3 



Ihougrh it is yet circumscribed in scope, and hampered 
by inadequate appropriations, will become, as its ob- 
jects are better comprebended, one of the most import- 
ant branches of government. Its reports are highly 
esteemed in Europe, and the one for 1872, contains a 
number of educational ideas of great value, and indis- 
pensable statistical information. 

Still going in the same direction, a measure has 
passed the House setting apart the proceeds from the 
sale of the National domain, in support of public 
schools. This act is of two-fold value, because it will 
have, ill addition to its direct benefits, a tendency to 
prevtnt the further alienation of the public domain. 
Every cduc.itor will hereafter insist, that if appro- 
priations for railways and other projects shall be made, 
they must not be aided by robbing the school fund. 

Before the lute rebel States were re-admitted they 
were compelled, as a part of the fundamental compact 
between them and the United States, to engraft pro- 
visions into their new State Constitutions for a perma- 
nent public school system for all classes. Already 
has Massachusetts ushered in a new but parallel sys- 
tem of schools— the kindergarten, industrial and poly- 
technic school system, which will be the emancipator 
of labor from ignorance, and, therefore, from servi- 
tude. 

FOR TIIE WORKIXGMAX. 

As a rock projected into the center ot a still body of 
water moves, in ever increasing circles, the ent're sur- 
face; so theeraancipatiouof three million of laboring 
men, was an act of such stupendous moral force that 
its intluences were felt to the furthest bouudaries ot the 
globe. Russia, comprising one seventh part of the 
inhabitable globe, and with a homogeneous population 
ot a hundred miliions, felt first th's moral power, -and 
the fetters fell from the serfs. The Czar, taking cour- 
age from our example, wrought out this great and 
beneficent m asure even at the risk of his throne, for 
the serf-holding nobility were exceedingly hostile to 
the plan. Increased vigilance M'as exorcised by Great 
Britain to exterminate the African slave trade, and 
Brazil, which is to South America what the United 
States are to North America, at once initiated measures 
for emancipation. Cuba is now the inly country in 
the civilized world where slavery exists, and there the 
system rests upon the volcano of chronic insurrection. 

The workingmen of all lands have taken fresh cour- 
age, and all their really efBcient organizations of trades 
unions and co-operative societies, as well as the inter- 
national organization, have been established since that 
time. 

The first great act for the benefit of the workingman 
was passed, Alay 20, 1863. It is known as the home- 
stead act, giving to actual settlers I'JO acres of the 
public domain. Public sentiment had demanded this 
measure of beneficience and justice at the hands of the 
Democratic party. It safely passed both Houses on the 
eve of the Presidential campaign in 1>J(30, but the rul- 
ing class— the slave-holders— demanded that it should 
be vetoed, and Buchanan yielded and recorded their 
veto — being the only one of his administration. Subse- 
quently all the pubhc lands in the Southern States, 



comprising some forty-six millions of acres, were 
brought under the operation of the homestead act — 
limiting, however, for two years the amount to eighty 
acres of $1.25 and forty acres of $2.50 lands to each 
settler. The Hon. Geo. W. Julian, originated this 
measure, for tlie purpose of aiding the landless white 
and colored men to become independent of the large 
planters. 

Acts were also passed establishing what is known aa 
the Freedman's Bureau, for the relief of the destitute 
refugees and freedmen ; and also, a joint resolution, 
directing that preference thould be given, in all public 
employments, to the honorably discharged soldiers 
and sailors of the late war. 

Subsequently the eight hour law was enacted, and 
the United States in its corporate capacity, have set 
the example of exacting but eight hours work from its 
employees, without diminution of wages. 

In no other country of the world h.ave the workers 
so much political influence; nowhere, and at no time 
have they enjoyed so many elements of material, in- 
tellectual and moral developments as here. The day's 
work of the mechanic buys fully twice as much as a 
day's work of the same artisan upon the continent of 
Europe; so that here, if anywhere, the experiment 
must be worked out of making the laboring classes 
the equals in the enjoyment of the comforts of life, and 
of advancement in culture, to the professional and 
commercial classes. 

FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT* 

Solon the wise Athenian lawgiver, in describing the 
happiest man of his times, places foremost, as the first 
element of his happiness, that he lived in Greece, a 
well-ordered community. This lesson, which the 
father of history, Herodotus, records, ought not to be 
lost upon ourselves, for we are apt to underestimate 
the importance of the fact, that without good govem- 
ment there can be neither national nor individual pros- 
perity. Therefore, the protection of the purity of the 
ballot and the enjoyment of personal security are 
among the first purposes for which free governments 
were instituted, and to attain this end the Republican 
party has devised various important measures. 

In July, 1861, the first act was signed, looking 
towards the suppression of the rebellion and the re- 
storation of the personal security of each citizen ; and 
this was followed by no less than two hundred acts, 
known as war measures, and desigocd to preserve our 
precious inheritance, the American continent, in its 
entirety. These war measures alone are worthy the 
historic pen, but as we only intend to chronicle the 
victories of peace, we pass them by, with reluctance. 
Among the statutes, especiallv designed to seeure per- 
sonal freedom, are the Freedman's Bureau and several 
Civil Rights' bills. One act, May 31, 1870, enforces 
the right of each citizen to vote, and provides penalties 
against bribery, threats, interference, or intimidation 
of persons entitled to vote. The act of February 28th, 
1871, which is amendatory thereto, provides for the 
punishment of false registration, frauds, fraudulent 
election returns and false swearing. 

These measures, so esential to good goverament and 



^ 



in which all good citizens are vitally interested, have 
been opposed by the Democracy with singular vehe- 
mence and virulence. The exploded and senseless 
States Rights doctrine was interposed, as if it were not 
the first necessity of any government to have power to 
devise laws for its self-preservation. We admit that it 
is to be regretted that laws against the Ku-Klux and 
against Tammany election frauds are necessary ; we 
deplore the want of patriotism and morals which ob- 
tains in these sections of the country; we should 
greatly prefer that life would be made secure, the fran- 
chise safe, and the ballot-box pure by the people them- 
selves ; but if in these ignorant and unpatriotic com- 
munities, respect for life and for the Republic has died 
out, no measures can be too strong to repress the evil. 
A government, without power to protect life and the 
franchise will, necessarily, fall to pieces, and anarchy 
and revolution will, in due time, supercede a violated 
ballot-box. 

FOB AGRICULTUBE. 

A majority of the people of the United States are 
engaged in the independent and honorable employment 
of cultivating the soil. There are about two millions 
of farms, owned by their occupants, and these two 
millions of homes are the center of general intelligence, 
independence of thought, patriotism, attachment to 
dulv and devotion to the highest interests of civiliza- 
tion. These men are preeminently the nobility of our 
Republic, whose aggregate judgment, calmly and in- 
telligently formed, constitutes one of itsmaiu supports. 

Before the advent to power of the Republican party, 
a few clerks and laborers were employed in the inte- 
rior Department to distribute large quantities of gar- 
den seeds. These seeds were bought in the open 
market, and distributed indiscriminately by appor- 
tionment in Members of Congress, and were, more- 
over, so generally of bad quality, that they became a 
nuisance alike to the sender and receiver. In May, 
1862, notwithstanding the exigencies of the war, the 
Agricultural Department was established; and subse- 
quently removed to a suitable building, surrounded by 
propagating gardens and conservatories. For some 
years past it has given most important aid to agricul- 
ture, by its very able and accurate reports ; by en- 
couraging agricultural and horticultural associations; 
by the careful distribution for trial of rare seeds and 
new grasses ; and by its etymological researches. The 
fact that the late Commissioner, Mr. Capron, has been 
transferred to Japan, to organize and teach a better 
system of agriculture in the Far East, is a very high 
compliment, not only to him, but to the American na- 
tion. That our light should shine so brightly that 
even the nations beyond the Pacific should see the 
blaze, constitutes a complete answer to critics and re- 
porters, who £0 frequently pass an ez cathedra opinion 
upon those subjects upon which they are most pro- 
foundly ignorant. 

The establishment of Agricultural colleges, with 
chemical laboratories, has already been noted. The 
increase in wealth and general prosperity of the farm- 
ing class has beeu very marked during the last ten 
years 



The improvements in rural architecture have been 
very great, and the charming villas which meet the 
eye of the traveler in the North and West are expres- 
sive of taste and culture. This general prosperity 13 
owing, in great part, to the fostering care of the Gene- 
ral Government. The agricultural interest almost 
entirely escapes taxation; it having been the pohcy 
not to tax either the raw products or the producer. 
It is laughable to hear some limb of the law, circula- 
tlDg through the country about election time, telling the 
farmers ihit *' they are groaning under (he load of tax- 
ation," "that every thing they use pays enormous con- 
tributions to grasping iron, salt and copper monopo- 
lies," &c., repeating this wind-chopping process as 
long as any one will listen. The truth is, the farmer 
feels national taxation very lightly, and we state this, 
not to propitiate this class, but as a matter of fact; 
because no patriotic citizen shrinks from paying a 
proper share of necessary taxation. Let us illustrate; 
Salt is taxed about fifteen cents a bushel — how much 
salt does an average family use per year? say five 
bushels— that is 75 cenls. Iron is taxed one cent per 
pound. How much iron does the farmer consume per 
year? Estimated at two hundred pounds, he pays two 
dollars. Copper is taxed about fifteen cents per pound, 
and if any one should purchase a copper kettle he pays, 
perhaps, fifty cents tax on copper in a life-time. Sugar 
is taxed about two cents per pound. Two hundred 
and fifty pounds per year is a large allowance— and 
this makes five dollars. Now, when we consider that 
the taxes raised annually amount to three hundred mil- 
lions, the average contribution of a reasonably econom- 
ical farmer's family is very small indeed. Then in 
addition, they enjoy the blessings of a uniform and 
safe currency, and a steady advance in the value of 
their improvements. 

FOR COMMERCE. 

The state of our internal commerce is satisfactory. 
A number of great measures have been devised during 
the past ten years for its encouragement and enlarge- 
ment. In July 1866, a verv important act was passed, 
known as the steamboat inspection law, which has had 
a remarkable efiect upon the personal security of 
steamboat passengers. It is true disasters happen 
even now, which greater fidelity and care might ob- 
viate ; but boiler explosions have become so rare that 
travel by steamship is no more hazardous that travel- 
ing by rail. 

The Light -House Board has not only relighted the 
lights upon our coasts, which the rebels, with their 
characteristic love of darkness, put out, but built other 
light-houses upon our immense lake and ocean shores. 
The Coast Survey has pursued its peaceful course, sup- 
plying the mariner with accurate charts of all the 
dangers of navigation on our coast. The Hydrographic 
Bureau of the Navy Department, has furnished superior 
ocean charts for the first time; for until recently all 
our ships were navigated by imported charts. 

Three railways to the Pacific have been chartered. 
The Central has been aided by money and land; the 
Northern by lands only; and the Southern, which lies 
principally in Texas, which owns all the public lands 



within its boundary, has only received a charter and 
ri<i;bt of way. Whatever criticism may be passed 
upon the larjje money grant to the Central PaciHc rail- 
way, til 18 fact remains, that it was a necessity to our 
continncd peaceful relations with the Pacific States, 
which were being alienated in interest; and that it has 
been a woiulerliil achievement, 'the construction of 
this road, virtually, from New York to San Francisco — 
iver throe thousand miles in length — belongs to those 



dead as the old Democracy itself. It is true the aggre- 
gate expenditures of the Government are attacked, t)ut 
all specific opposition to river and harbor improvements 
has been abandoned. 

This money expended in aid of navigation, benefits 
our citizens everywhere; for .all those who sell pro- 
duce or purchase goods share in the advantages, be- 
cause easy transportation cheapens purchases, and aug- 
ments the price paid for raw products. Thus has been 



fabulous accomplishment.s, whose magnitude tends to quietly settled one of those former vexatious political 
prevent their full recognitinn until time has embalmed ] controversies, and the nation placed in the channel of 
them. 'J hese railway^}, and their numerous branches, 
have pushed civilization five hundred miles westward 



progress. 
Life-saving stations are also maintained upon tha 



a few years, until it nestles in the valleys of the 
Rockv Mountains. 

More than ten thousand new post-offices have been 
opened; the money order system established ; treaties 
negotiated fur the Iranamission of small sums of 
money to the principal nations of Europe; and tele- 
graphic facilities extended. Several ocean cables have 
been laid ihnnigh the intelligent perseverence of 
American citizens, aided by American enterprise and 
the chartered ^allCtion of our government. 

Hut chief among the great aids to commerce is the 
sy.stem of National Banks. W ho does not recollect 
the uuisancL- and loss to the traveling public of an ir- 
lesponsible Slate Bank currency, whose value changed 
not only from day to day but between Slate lines? 
Who has escaped the innumerable robberies by coun- 
terfeits, {a. counterfeit-detector being a necessity to 
every busines^j man,) by broken banks ; by old banks 
revived ; bv new ones started by scoundrels who paid 
black-mairio the counterfeit detector publishers to 
rale them good until their currency had gained circu- 
l.ition? \V lio do.s not know of the frightful disasters 
of Is.'iT and l-i^I— and the ever recurring minor crises, 
of a Bank syst.iu which promised to redeem in gold when 
no one cared lor it. but which always suspeuded pay- 
ment when the gold was wanted. If the Uepublicau 
party had devised no other measure in behalf of geue- 
'ral business prosperity— this great unifying act alone 
would entitle it to universal gratitude. 

We adni t that the rebellion caused the destruction 
of our foreign commerce; and before it could here- 
built, the material of which the keels of ships were 
constructed, changed from wood, in which we excelled, 
to iron, for which change we were not prepared. '1 hat 
this comiuLrce must be revived there can be no doubt ; 
and various measures are pending to accomplish this 
purpo;;e. It is not merely a groat pecuniary loss, but 
a loss of national prestige, th;\t our flag covers not a 
single European hue ; and that, if these foreign cor- 
poiatious weie, for any reason, to withdraw iheir ships, 
we wouid be compelled to carry our mails, and travel 
to Europe in sailing vessels. VVe have full confidence 
that this unpropitious state of atiairs will be remedied 
before this Congress expires, and that the starry ban- 
ner, the most beautiful flag yet devised, will again be 
wafted upon the Atlantic Ocean. 

FOR RIVER AND H.\RBOR IMPROVEMENTS. 

When the Whig and Democratic parlies contended 
for ascendancy the question of Hiver and Harbor im- 
pruvemeuts was of great prominence. It was part of 
what was known as "Henry Clay's American System." 
The Democrats, under the influence of the slave-holders 
who hated commerce, interposed hair-splitting con- 
stitutional objections, and ttie pitiful sum of a few 
thousand dollars, absolutelj; needed for harbors of 
national importance, was refused. Since the Republi- 
can party came into power there have been expended 
Irom four to five millions per year ; and under the new 
regulation, which appropriates specific sums for par- 
ticular objects, (in place of giving a gross sum to the 
War Department to use at its own discretion,) the ex- 
penditures have brought about such excellent results, 
that all opposition.has been abandoned. Thus, one of 
the pet planks in the Democratic platform, is now as 



most exposed points on our shores, so that the marineia 
from all nations, may receive succor in case of disaster. 
This is only one of the many evidences cropping out 
in every direction, that the "Republican party values 
human life more than money; and that no narrow and 
selfish views control its policy. 

OUR FOREIGN POLICY. 

During the last ten years the public peace has been 
maintained without loss of national prestige or dignity. 
Napoleon committed his first great error when he in- 
vaded Mexico ; but Seward bowed him out with his 
usual suavity. A little petulance like that displayed by 
the German Emperor, would have forced Napoleon to 
fight, and we might have had an expensive war to 
achieve the same result which tact and patience accom- 
plished. 

The Trent controversy, which gave the Fnglish 
Tories the sought for opportunity to bring on a war, 
was skilllully conducted; and the Alabama question 
has subsequently been managed to the satisfaction of 
the American public. It is true, unexpected obstacles 
have been raised bv Great Britain, but we are still con- 
fident that they will be satisfactorily adjusted. Com- 
mercial and Postal treaties have been made with nearly 
all the nations upon the globe, and the average rates of 
postage reduced one half. 

But preeminently has our statesmanship shone forth 
in the Far East. Japan had been closed to all the 
world until ihedoors were opened to the United States. 
This great change of policy almost lead to a revolution ; 
bv.t the statesmen that now control the government of 
Japan are wise and progressive, and will welcome 
American principles and ideas. 

'1 he United States was, moreover, the first power that 
introduced China among the sisterhood of civilized 
nations; and it was a former American ambassador. 
Mr. Burlingame, who accomplished this great result, 
China, hereafter, promises to be bound by the Inter- 
national law of Christian nations; and claims also its 
many benefits. Our influence over Asia, is greater 
than that of England or Russia for it is purely moral- 
it is that of a friend and peace-loving neighbor, in- 
stead ot a war-like and intriguing stranger or enemy. 

FOR THE COLORED MAN. 

The principal measures for the abolition of Slavery 
and for the security of his personal, civil and political 
rights having already been noted, we only add that he 
owes every thing— liberty, security and enfranchise- 
ment to the Republican party. It has stemmed the 
tide of brutality and prejudice which threatened to 
overwhelm him subsequently to his emancipaiion; it 
has expended a number of millions of dollars for his 
education and support; it upholds him to day, as far 
as within its power, in all bis just rights. The over- 
throw ot the Republican party would result in his 
practical disfranchisement; as he well understands. 
It is true the Republican party has stood by him upoa 
principle, for the vindication of human rights and good 
government. It has not enfranchised him to obtain hia 
support, blindly and without enquiry ; but it does ex- 
pect that he will zealously uphold his new-born rights, 
and for that end be energetic in the support of the good 
cause. No perils or eflbrta to intimidate ought to pre- 



6 



vent the colored men from making all reasonable ex- 
ertions iu support of those questions in which they are 
so vitally interested. 

FOR TUE INBIANS. 

The savapfe tribes of American Indians, who have 
for years subsisted upon'huQting; and plunder, are cer- 
tainly not promising subjects for beneficial lej^islation. 
The public sentiment iu the Far West demands the'r 
exteini'natiiin, and not entirely without cause. The 
horrible tortures to which Indians suliject their vic- 
tims, and the mutilation which thev mflict upon tLeir 
bodies, havemspired universal indignation and a crav- 
ing desire for vengeanc;>. 

'Ihese Indians, moreover, are without representation 
and political influence, so that, whatever is done fir 
them, cannot be ascribed to selfish motives. Under 
cover of this h.istile sentiment a number of Indian 
agents, contractors, sutlers and other adventurers had 
1. rmed "rings" or organizations to plunder these ig- 
norant and practically dumb savages ; who only felt 
that tlio.':e whites with wh»m they came in contact 
were such faithless scoundrels, that their own treachery 
became excn*able. 

For the I'urpose of breaking np this system, radical 
remedies were devised, and Peace Commissioners were 
appoiaiid representing the best elements of various 
Christian den(miinations to assist 'n the superintendence 
of Indian afiairs. The present Commissioner, Gen'l. 
Francis A. Walker, is a high-toned Cliristiao gentle- 
man of unimpeachable integrity and of very decided 
executive ability. The Indian ring has been broken 
up; rations are being issued to heads of fumilies in- 
stead of to tribes, which has resulted in very great 
economy ; the Indians have been placed upon smaller 
and more easily accessible reservations; devoted mis- 
sionaries have been actively at work; and the peace 
has been very generally maintained. This has been 
the hrst earnest efl'ort to reclaim these savages, or, at 
least, their children, thus saving them from inevitable 
diist ruction. Thus far these eliorts have met with bet- 
ter success than even the most sanguine expected, but 
should the new policy fail, it will not detract fiom the 
credit which is due to its originators. Kindness, con- 
sideration and justice shown to the most benighted 
and unfortunate iohabitanis of the Republic charac- 
terizes our country far more as a "Christian" land, 
than written assertions of dogmatic creed in the Natio- 
nal Constitution. 

Unselfish regard for the interests and happiness of 
all classes ; charity, education, free homes, a free pul- 
pit and a free press, constitute the essence of religious 
life, and afford the highest possible evidence that the 
philanthropic elements of society control the destiny 
of the nation. 

FOR THE EX-REBELS. 

The student c f history well knows that the suppres- 
sion by the regular government of extensive n^bellions 
was always accompanied by numerous butcheries, exe- 
cutions, bud expatriations. The histories of Russia, 
Austria, Prussia, Italy, France, Spain and England, 
tell the same bloody story. The executions after the 
late communistic revolt in Paris were numerous, and 
for three days the soldiers were encouraged to kill at 
sight any and all of the fleeing wretches they could 
find. Our own rebellion was surpressed without a 
single execution or act of oppression. We make this 
stiittraent as a matter of fact, not that we, altogether, 
approve this great magnanimity, which has never been 
appreciated, but misconstrued into cowardice by the 
ex-rebels ; but if the nation was wrong in this respect, 
it erred on ihe side of forgiveness and brotherly love. 
From the day of Lee's surrender to the great Chieftain 
of the Republic, every measure passed by the General 
Government has been designed to benefit the rebels, 
and to encourage them to become faithful citizens once 
more. Not only were their lives spared and their 
property not confiscated, but all special taxes were 



speedily removed. During the war, cotten was taxed 
three cents per pound, but this tax was speedily re- 
duced and finally abolished. The rebellion inereased 
the annual expenditures of the government from 
seventy to three hundred millions of dollars. The 
South not only paid no faxes during the war, when 
more than a thousand millions were contributed by the 
loyal people, but the tax paying capacity of that sec- 
tion was so reduced by the rebellion, that the amounts 
paid since the restoration of peace have been exceed- 
ingly small. Cotton was the only production i\hich 
would have brought a considerable amount into the 
Treasury, and by the abolition of the cotton tax, the 
South has gained almost entire immunity from taxa- 
tion. 

These ex-rebels have been re-invested with the right 
of citizenship, and with insignificant exceptions, they 
were amnestied. 'Ihey were again admitted as co-ru- 
lers, and their new State Constitutions made more con- 
formable to the demands of education and civilization. 

When the cry of distress reached Congress that the 
people were starvmg. relief was granted to the amount 
of five millions of dollars alike to whites and blacks; 
a joint resolution passed Congress in February, 1867, 
placing our ships-of-war at the disposal of the charita- 
ble to carry provisions to Charleston, Savannah, and 
Mobile. In iMay, 1S07, another joint resolution grant- 
ed specific relief to the destitute people of the south- 
western States. 

Thus have these men, notwithstanding their persist- 
ent hostility and treasonable practices, been clothed, 
fed and protected by a generous and humane people; 
and if they could only so far rise above sectional preju- 
dice, as to take hold of the National Government, and 
regard it as their best friend and protector, they could 
at once rescue their States from misrule and corruption. 
It is they who close the door and exclude themselves 
from power and National influence ; it is they who keep 
back emigration and wealth by acts of violence ; it is 
they who are the architects of their own discontent and. 
mistbrtuncs. Why do they not grasp the brotherly 
hand so kindly extended? Why not seek relief 
through the dominant party that can grant it, instead 
of growling and snarling in a hopeless minority. 

in so far as the Democratic party encourages this 
hatred to the national government for partizan ends ; 
in so far as it induces these ignorant people to persist 
in Ku-Klux violence ; in so far as it upholds the abuse 
of the colored workingman, who would gladly build 
up that section, if permitted ; it is the worst enemy 
that the ex-rebels have. For, should the patience and 
forbearance of the North become exhausted by con- 
tinuous disregard of the rights of Northern citizens; 
and by ciiminal and cowardly midi'ight attacks upon 
their unoffending associates ;" the wiit oi habeas cwpvs 
may again be suspended and traitors receive speedy 
justice by means of a drum-head court martial. 

All ex-rebels, who are legallv entitled to vote, can 
abuse that sacred privilege if they choose. They can 
ally themselves with the party of mental darkness and 
reaction, as Ihey have hitherto done, but they must be 
nuide to respect the rights of others. The system of 
terrorism prevailing in some sections must be broken 
up at all hazard and at every cost, 

FOR THE N.'iTURALIZED CITIZEN. 

The United States of America is the home of refuge 
of tlie oppressed of all nations. No other nation in 
the world admits foreigners on so easy terms to share 
the governing power. The political refugees find here 
a safe ass\lum. No Jlonarchical nation has ever had 
the audacity to demand the return of a Ilecker, a Siegel, 
a Meagher, or a Mitchell. The workitigmen find this 
a paradise of material comfort, for industry and rea- 
sonable economy result in the rapid accumulation of ' 
wealth. Upon "the European continent a laborer is 
always a laborer, a servant .always a servant. His chil- 
drenj moreover, are compelled to share with him hig 



social status, so that it is very rarely, and only by some 
peculiar fortune, that the child of the artisan can enter 
the ranks of the nobility or professional classes ; while 
in the United States it is the rule, that citizens, born in 
the most humble circumstances, like Jaekson and Lin- 
coln, receive the yiighesl offices and consideration. 

For many years a preat majority of our foreign-born 
citizens attached themselves (o the Democratic party. 
In graspinnj at the shadow of a popular name they be- 
c.ime, in fact, the allies of the slave-holders and op- 
pressors of humanity. In time the most intellio^ent 
disassociated themselves from the army oi darkness 
and reaction, and have faithfully labored in the ranks 
of liberalism and progress. Special etibrts are again 
made to induce these naturalized citizens, and p.irticu- 
larlj' those of German descent, to join hands once more 
witii the T.immany and Ku-Klux Democracy. The 
pretext is "Reform," but the practice would be Tam- 
many corrupiion. The impudent claim is set up that 
a few hundred Republican deserters contain all the 
honesty of the Republican party ; and that this com- 
bination of deserters, ex-rebels and Tammany Demo- 
crats, if successful, would usher in a new era of econo- 
my and reform. 

For many years the Democratic party was in power, 
and that too, chiefly through means of the support it 
received Irom naturalized citizens. Did it give them 
the Homestead bill''' Did it encourage American labor 
by a judicious tarlif ? Did it confer upi n them any place 
of responsibility V Did it not always treat, them like in- 
f. riors and voting cattle? D;d it protect them by treaty 
from beii g impressed for military duty when they 
visited their former homes? Did not the prescript. ve 
public op. nion engendered by the slave system, also 
cause the Knownothing persecutions? It is true, the 
Democrats, who profited exclusively by the foreign 
vote, opposed Kuownothingism, but merely as a mat- 
ter of interest and not upon principle. 1 his they could 
not do. But since the Republican party, with its lib- 
eral programme, •' the world is our country and all 
mankind our countrymen," came into power, Know- 
nothing:sm has ceased, not merely as a matter of fact, 
but what IS of far greater consequence, as a sentiment. 
In the brief reign of the Republican parly, treaties 
have been made with all the European powers whose 
subjects have, in large numbers, emigrated, providing 
that if any emigrant, though he was of military age 
when emigratmg, has become a naturalized citizen of 
the United Stati.s, he may return to his former home 
and stay there for five years before the military laws of 
his former country re-attach. The provision of five 
years was adopted because it was clumied that many 
parents might send their you'hs to the United States 
to remain there five years "and become citizens for the 
very purpose of evading military service. This clause 
is of no importance to the bona fide American citizen, 
agaiost whom, if he never gains a residence in Eu- 
rope, the limilalion does not run. 

For many years, during Democratic rule, the tide of 
immigraiio'n has poured into the United States, yet 
never did that party do anything for the protection of 
emigrants while in transitu. They may be abused 
upon the ship ; they may be furnished with rotten 
meat, and badly cooked food ; they may be overcrowd- 
ed ; they may be kept upon extra trains upon railway- 
cars Without warmth or'water for a week, and there is 
no law upon the statute book which can give them jus- 
tice. 

It is true the State of New York taxes them one dol- 
lar and-a-ha f, which money is chiefly expended in 
salaries for the Castle GaKlen oflicials. The Tammany 
Hall Emigrant Commission has licensed a set of low 
and disrepu;able Boarding-house keepers to solicit 
emigrants to stop with them. These places overflow 
With fi!th a.id vermin; thay are the recruiting places 
lor prostittites and illegal voters ; and few emigirants 
ever leave them without being swindled. 
The present Admiaistration ia desirous to abolish 



these abuses. Secretary Boutwell sent an experienced 
gentleman to Europe, and to New York, to thoroughly 
investigate the emigration system. The President, ia 
his message, urged upon Congress immediate action, 
and there is no doubt, but a comprehensive measure 
drafted under the auspices of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, aud introduced by that excellent practical legis- 
lator, 0. D. Conger, of Michigan, will become a law. 
Then, for the first time, the emigrant will feel the pro- 
tecting care of the Government of the United Stares. 
These matters are of vital importance to the emi- 
grant, and he ought, therefore, to extend to the politi- 
cal organization, which has taken so great an interest 
in his welfare, his earnest suDDort. 

FOR NATIONAL PROGRESS. 

Since the close of the war. taxation has been reduced 
by successive acts, equal to an annual average of two 
hundred and thirty-five millions of dollars. In the 
same time the latest official public debt statement 
shows that upwards of three hundred millions of dol- 
lars of the public debt have been paid during the last 
three years. The act refunding the public debt at a 
lower rate of interest— converting 200 millions of dol- 
lars from six per cent into fixe per cent bunds— has 
been successfully carried out. No doubt the balance 
of the loan can "also be thus converted, and perhaps 
at even more advantageous rates. The National ex- 
penditures have been steadily reduced, aud new sys- 
tems of accountability adopte'd. Every disbursing of- 
ficer is now obliged to send in a weekly balance sheet, 
showing the amount deposited and where, the amount 
disbursed, and the balance on hand The Assistant 
Treasurers and National Depositeries are obliged to 
make similar returns, and a comparison by competent 
officers will speedily lead to the discovery of fraud. 
Every eSbrt has been made to expel unworthy men 
from the civil service, and if more than the usual num- 
ber cf frauds have been discovered the past yaar it is 
owino- to an increase of watchfulness and more earnest 
effort's. At the close of Johnson's Adtr.inistraiian, a 
one hundered dollar United States 6 per cent bond was 
worth but $8J in gold, while»it is now worth $101. 
Our currency was twenty per cent below par, it is now 
but 10 per cent, and constantly appreciating. 

All the interests of civilization have received atten- 
tion. The Army Signal Corps has been employed to 
indicate coming storms and the probability cf the 
weather, and these reports have reached an accuracy 
so great, that it is the universal testimony that mari- 
ners and agriculturalists have been greatly benefitted. 
Commissioners were appointed to a general conference 
to be held in London, at which, all civilized powers 
will be represented, to discuss Spates' Prison reform. 
The Statistical Bureau has issued a book of great value, 
not only to the emigrant, but to our citizens g.?uerally 
who may contemplate a change of residence. Said 
book gives detailed information of the price of lands 
and the value ot labor in all sections of the country, 
and has been in so great demand that private parlies 
have purchased a number of thousand copies. 

Of all human cftbrts to hand down the stream of time 
evidences of taste and civilization, architecture has 
held the highest rank. We stand with wondrous awe 
within the colossal monuments of the middle ages, 
that overwhelm by their gigaiitic proportions all sur- 
rounding modern objects. If the traveler first views 
the majestic dome ot Cologne, all other buildings in 
that city seem cheap and tawdry. A similar impres- 
sion of the grand architectural conceptions of the 
middle ages is produced by the cathedrals of St. Paul 
in LondiTu, and St. Peter in Rome, and the cathedrals 
of Strassburg and Brussels. In the United States, 
where we have no need of imperial palaces, aud no 
State Church, architecture can only be exhibited in its 
highest form in our public building,^ No private cor- 
poration can afford to erect monuments of that dura- 
bihty and imposing character that will be a witness of 
our times five centuries heace. 



g 



But church and palace architecture are not applica- 
ble to our public edifices, which need an abundance of 
light and other peculiar facilities. In the new Post 
OfSce buildings at Boston and New York, all these con- 
ditions have been realized. At a small expenditure, 
in fact, exceedingly small when compared with the 
money wasted on the architectural abortions of the 
New York City Court House, the Custom House at 
New Orleans, and other similar structures, edifices are 
m the course ot construction, more colossal and im- 
posing than any upon the American continent, and yet 
perfectly adapted to the public use. These architec- 
tural monuments will not only be an evidence to the 
European mind of the genius and skill of American 
architects and artisans and monuments to future gene- 
rations ; but teachers of correct taste and due appre- 
ciation of the grand and beautiful. 

THE PKOPOSED LABOR COMMISSION. 

The Labor Commission project which has passed the 
House, will, v.ndoubtedly become a law; and if an able 
and piactical Commission is appointed, who will ad- 
dress themselves to the great question of ascertaining 
in what way legislation may benefit the workingman, 
we have secured the first and most essential condition 
of progress. The President, we are reliably informed, 
takes a special and personal interest in all measures 
designed to benefit the workingmen, to which clas3 he 
himself belongs, and of his faithful co-operation, there 
can be no doubt. 

CONCLUSION. 

This summary of the achievements of the Republi- 
can party shows, that in every department ot legisla- 
tive activitj', it has been on the side ol humanity ; and 
a careful examination of the voluminous statutes en- 
acted during the past ten years, enables us to testify 
that each and every statute enacted has had a progres- 
sive tendency. Men whose thoughts range beyond 
party lines and party possibilities, and who only view 
parties as means toward ends, may hold that upon 
some questions a more radical course would have been 
better, and that the activities of the party might have 
extended to a greater range of subjects; but examina- 
tion will bring to them the conviction, thut, whenever 
the party has acted, its actions have been uniformly 
progressive and patriotic. There is not even one diso- 
nant noie to mar the general harmony. 

Nor has this record been made without virulent op- 
position. As the nation moved on with a current as 
irresistible as that of the Father of Rivers, the ho : tile 
elements became more blind with rage, more maddened 
with anger. On every roll call in both Houses oi' Con- 
gress Will be found the same stubborn array of oppo- 
sition names. So uniform was this negatit/U, that 
Senator Saulsbury, after his term had expired and the 
new Senate had organized, forgetting that he was no 
longer a inembtr, rose once more with " Mr. President 
I object." 

But as iheae parliamentaryobjectionswere over-borne 
by the collective will of the nation, this deadly hostility 
to progress took another turn. First it was rebellion, 
carried on with merciless cruelty for four years ; and 
when the rebel flag was driven from the field by Gen. 
Grant with his army of brave and heroic men, it de- 
veloped into assassination. President Lincoln, the 
true Representative of the Republic universal, honest, 
magnanimous, patient and forgiving, was all the more 
intensely hated by this element of darkness, because 
he possessed these virtues. He was the most illus- 
trious of all the American Martyrs, who died that the 
Republic might live; but he was only the precursor of 
thousands of more humble men and women who have 
since died by the assassin's hands, 'the midnight 
murderers, with their disguises, are still about. The 
crackling flames of humble bonnes, the moans of the 
dying and the shrieks of the helpless yet startle the 
midnight air. For a time, with martial law impending, 
there 13 a lull ; but woe uato the victims, if the uatioaal 



flng were torn from the hands of loja\ men. No pen 
coiild describe the awful massacre of colored men that 
would inevitably follow. 

The Republican party is an organization of self-think- 
ing men ; it does not follow Conkling, MortDn, or Grant; 
neither does it follow Sumner, Greeley, and Schurz. 
On the contrary, the party at large demands obedience 
and loyalty from all its niembers to the declared prin- 
ciples of its organization. Of all the ridiculous inven- 
tions of an unscrupulous enemy the story that oflicial 
patronage can control the policy of the Republican 
party, is the most insulting'and absurd. Did not John- 
son try that? Didn't he oSer ail the patronage ot the 
government, which was considerably (jreattr during 
his administration than it is to-day, as prizes for polit- 
ical treason? How many worth buying did he get? 
Not one! And if the President were to endeavor to 
interfere with the free choice of the party, both as to 
men, principles or measures, he would become the ob- 
ject of rebuke instead of the malcontents, who, by 
threats of bolting, intend to coerce the organiza- 
tion. 

The Republican party never surrenders. It may, in 
time, be overcome by its political foes; but under no 
circumstances will four millions of self-thinking voters 
surrender their well matured convictiinis to a faction 
so small that an omnibus will hold them all. It is the 
main security of our Republic that it rests not upon 
the shoulders of a few political leaders, but upon the 
self-thinking masses; it is the most encouraging fea- 
ture of Republican progress, tiiat it has educated the 
people to a point, where public men only become the 
mouth pieces of the popular will. And as long as the 
people remain the master of their own destiny ; refus- 
ing to follow leaders, however brilliant, when they are 
actuated bv personal motives; thinking for themselves 
and weighing all public question by their own calm 
judgment, the Republic is not only safe, but will be- 
come the model government of the world. 

In the St. Lorenzo Church, at the city of Nuremberg 
can be seen one of those transcendent cfibrts of genius, 
which photographs upon canvas the history ot eighteen 
centuries and of centuries yet unborn. It tells the 
wondrous story of the rise and dillusion of Christianity, 
in hues so sweet and plain, that even a child can read 
It there. In the foreg.ound sits Joseph and near him 
Jlary with her beautiful infant in her lap. in the stable 
where he was born. The three Kings, from the Far 
East, have just arrived, and kneeling, are depositing 
tueir crowns and offerings at the feet of the Christ- 
chi'.d. These wise men of the East are only the ad- 
vance guard. At the threshold are the apostles and 
disciples; the Romar.s, Greeks and Crusaders are ad- 
vancing; nations with various flags and banners, and 
men ot all conditions are approaching; here sits the 
proud noble upon his stately steed, ;aud yonder plods 
the pilgrim, worn and foot-sore. As far as the eye can 
reach, over hills and vales the endless procession winds 
its way, and at the outer edge, ships Irom other conti- 
nents are disembarking the human tide that ever flows 
to this center of truth and fraternity. 

And thus our Republic— "a government of the peo- 
ple, by the people, and for the people," as the illus- 
trious Lincoln, so well defined it— has also become the 
asylum of the oppressed, the light of the world; the 
hope and faith in the possibi.ify of better days. As 
the children of Israel, smitten with disease and death, 
gazed with eager eye upon the brazen serpent elevated 
as a means of safety, so is the starry flag regarded as 
the promise of Paradise regained— a consciously 
created paradise, founded upon wise laws and univer- 
sal justice. The Monarchs from the Far East, with 
their bowed flags and crown ofleriugs, are at hand ; 
the endless procession— a contribniou by all nations — 
is advancing; the light of the Republic shines with 
increasing eti'ulgence; and our example cahs in the 
language of liberty and brotherhood intelligible to all 
maukiud ; " This is the Hsmj, walleye in iV 



ISSUES OF THE FUTURE: ' 



OR 



WHAT MAT BE ACCOMPLISHED 



BY THE 



REPUBLICAN PARTY. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

Among the political reforms most needed is an im- 
provement in the manner of conducting political cam- 
paigns. History hasconclusiveiy shown that the writof 
ffabeax Corpus and the Jury Trial were the two political 
institutions which conserved personal liberty in Eng- 
land ; while upon the continent political rights were lost 
with the introduction of the Civil Law. And now when 
the examples of America and F'ngland are again moving 
the civilized nations upon the continent to regain a 
portion of their abandoned rights, the Jury Trial is 
engrafted upon the Civil Law ; with which, however, 
it has no natural connection, and thus its efficacy is 
greatly impaired. 

As the Jury Trial is an educator of the people, in 
their legal rights, so our political campaigns are the 
teachers of our civic responsibilities and duties. With- 
out them, Republican government would be impossible 
and corruption and venality would rule the land< 

It is, therefore, of very greafc importance that this 
opportunity to instruct the people shall not be lost, 
and that the great questions at i.ssue shall be thought- 
fully digested and presented ; for the demagogi^e, who, 
during the canvass seeks lo arouse prejudice, to stir 
up the vilest pastioos, and to supplant logic with 
coarse epithets, is the worst enemy of the Republic. 
Appreciating the great responsibility which rests upon 
the teacher of political morals and science, we shall 
endeavor, while saying something for the Republican 
party, to say even more for the benefit of all our peo- 
ple and the Republic universal. 

That the achievements of the Republic during the 
last decade, have been most illustrious is thejudorment 
of the civilized world, which cannot be successfully 
challenged. Our institutions were tested by a terrible 
and exhaustive war, but they came forth, unimpaired, 
with our national prestige augmented aqd qot a sit^gle 
right abandoned. 



An examination of the statutes enacted since 1861, 
will show, incontestably, that, in every branch of gov- 
ernmental activity, the Republican party has been uni- 
formly on the side of national progresss. In war, or 
peoce, for Rebels, Indians, Foreigners, or Colored men, 
for Commerce, Manufactures, and Agriculture, for the 
Laborer and for Education, its legislation has beea 
humane, progressive and beneficent. So thoroughly 
has this work been done, that the people are being told 
that they may relax their vigilance, indulge in personal 
warfare and abandon the party whose jiolicy brought 
about this universal prosperity, because there are no 
more isssues. It is proclaimed, in fact, that the im- 
pending contest is merely a question of personal fitness 
and a scramble for place. Never was a greater fallacy 
presented. It is not during the fierce blasts of the 
winter's storms that trees blossom and vines take root ; 
it is the genial sunshine of the spring which causes 
the small germ to lift up and pierce the heavy earth, 
so that in,the autumn the ^ower may reap. And thus 
it is with Nations. It is not during war, rebellion and 
general excitement, but in times of quietude that these 
germs of public policy take root, which in their far- 
reaching consequences either cause a nation to become 
vigorous and great, or to dwindle for a century or two 
and finally lose its national life. Prussia may be 
quoted in illustration of the former, and Spain of the 
latter phase of the slow but certain operation of this 
law. This, tberelbre, is the very time above all others 
when careful investigation and calm consideration are 
needed, so that we may build our national edifice upon 
the rock of everlasting truth instead of the quicksands 
of prejudice and error. 

The first issue presented is, to " hold fast that which 
is good." This is all important. Before it is possible 
to take another forward step, we must preserve what 
we have gained. This itself is a living issue. It 
should be renaembered that every step taken by tho 



Republican party has been bitterly and virulently op- 
posed. Emancipation, Civil Rights, Kducation and 
jEnfranchisement for the colored race, have not only 
been resisted by war and by all parliamentary forms of 
opposition, and by the organized Ku-Klux banditti; 
but th@ party which was opposed to ajl these ideai is 
as hostile to-day as ever, and we challenge the produc- 
tion of a single act — not I'esolution or platform — but 
bona fide act, which gives evidence of a real change of 
opinion. I 

In these circumstances it becomes evident that the 
defeat of the Republican party, would unsettle issues 
which ought never to be re-opened ; and would place 
men of obnoxious political principles in power, whom 
it may take twenty years to dislodge, and thus make 
all further progress an impossibility. In fact, no man 
can tell, in view of the shameless Tammany frauds, to 
■what depths of corruption and venality these men 
would desce'nd to retain their power. The experiment 
of placing this combination of all the loose, revolution- 
ary, dissatisfied and ex-rebel elements in power, simply 
because we feel strong enough to trust even Satan to 
manage goveramentai affairs, might prove an expen- 
sive venture. In tne place of the trivial defaults 
of a lew thousand dollars, which the vigilance of our 
government unearths, while ten millions per month are 
devoted to the extinguishment of the public debt; we 
might find that Civil Service Reform, as interpreted by 
Tanamany and Co., means that the thousands ought to 
be saved and the millions stolen. Without intending 
to impugn the honesty or patriotism of the masses of 
the Democratic party, history has shown that neither 
during the late rebeHion, nor in New York city, have 
they resisted, with spirit, the unpatriotic and corrupt 
conduct of their leaders, and thai the}' are so wedded 
to prejudice that they cannot be induced to exert due 
vigilance over those placed in power by their own 
votes. 

THE NEW FUNCTIONS OP GOVERNMENT. 

t 

The development of political and governmental ideas 
has been remarkably slow. For some thousands of 
years Patriarchal government, still lincfering on the 
outskirts of civilization, sufficed. For some thousand 
years more, the unlimited monarch}-, also uniting the 
legislative, executive and judicial powers in a single 
person— generally hereditary— prevailed ; and wkh 
few exceptions, constitutional monarchies are the pro- 
duct of the present century. A constitutional mon- 
archy is an ill-detined compromise helween portions of 
the people and the monarch, granting to, subjects a few 
legislative powers and personal rights ; but. inasmuch 
a? the people have no pli^-sical means of enforcing said 
compact its guarantees are set aside, when a seeming 
necessity arises. 

The founders of our Federal government displayep 
rare political intelli|^encL'. Nearly a century of prac- 
tical trial lias proved thatitis the most perfect scheme 
of government yet presented, and yet it is generally 
conceded that the growing needs of civil institutions 
demand a further extension. If the Republican party 
is retained ill ixiwer all questions of the security of the 
franchise and of personal freedom may be considered 
settled. The issues of the future will, therefore, no 
longer be governmental but administrative, in other 
words, Ibe un)st prominent question of statesmanship 
will be — how far may the admuiistrative functions of 
the corpor.ition, known as the goveeomeut of the 
United States — be extended with advantage to all the 
people? Our government is no longer one of force but 
of public opinion. It is not above us, but of us. We 
have a right to regard it as our servant; as avast 
machine which may be put to various beuebcent uses, 
but at the same time, it is a machine so gigantic and 
complicated, that only thu most tcieiitific and trained 
engineers can use it to a(lvaat:ige. 



THE NEW DEMANDS OF CIVJUZATIOIT. 

Having thus stated the primarv issues, let ns ex- 
amine the rise and progress of the extcn.sion of Ad- 
ministrative functions. Confining for the sake of 
brevity our historical relereace to onpown countrr, we 
find that fifty years ago, both pur' State and National 
Governments were confined almost so?e1y to govern- 
mental and executive duties. '1 o administer justice; 
to collect the revenue; to maintain the public peace \ 
and to perform the postal service, vrcTe nearly alt the 
governmental functions at that time. The township 
government of the New England States, which is di.s- 
tinguished for its economy and persi>nal responsibility, 
vra.3 the model upon which our State and National gov- 
fefn'ments were founded ; and if the Administrative 
functions of our National, State, and municipal govern- 
ments were not constantly extending and becoming 
daiJy more complicated, we would have no trouble to 
engineer the simple machinery with which we have be- 
come fuHy familiar. 

Even thirty years ago few States njeded a- general 
corporation law. To obtain a charter for a railway,, 
bank, or other corporate enterprise, was considered a 
great achievement. The merits of each case were- 
carefully considered, and if more than three or four 
charters were granted during any one session of th& 
State legislature that body was strongly suspected of 
jobbery and corruption. 

'1 lie motto of Jefferson that "that aovernment which 
governs least governs best," is, no doubt, excellent, if 
by government is meant the commanding of what may 
or may not be done ; but is inapplicabfe if it is applied 
to purely corporative or administrative functions. The 
enterprise of the single citizen no longer sirfEces to ' 
achieve success. The increasing demands for incor- 
porations caused the passsage oi a general incorpora- 
tion law by nearly every State legislature ; and now 
gigantic corporations are scattered ill over the land. 
Well do we recollect that " corporations " were held 
up as the saviors of society, and the creation of artifi- 
cial persons as one of the greatest achievements of 
modern legislation. But slowly the public tnind- i* 
undergoing a change. It is found that these corpora- 
tions are not economically managed ; that a large 
share of the income is consumed In princely salaries; 
that its managers act (ippretsively und selfishly toward 
the people, and that, in fact, many hare become mere 
machines to enrich a few non-producers at the expense 
of the masses. This criticism does uot apply to- ali 
corporate enterprises, but chiefly to railway aud insur- 
ance companies ; and there is a general fueling of dis- 
trust in the public mind, that a combination of these 
corporated interests, controlling as they do more tbaa 
a thousand million dollars of capital,, muy, in time, be- 
come dangerous to the happiness and safely of the 
people. 

THE INCREASE OF ADMINISTARTIVB FUNCTIOXS. 

In pursuance to the ever increasing demands of civi- 
lization, our government has already assumed many 
important administrative functions. Proraitunit among^ 
these newly engrafted systems, aie : Education, Agri- 
culture, I^ateut Rights, Architecture, Coast Survey, 
Hydrography, National Bank Currency, Manufacture 
of Currency, Statistics, Pensions, Coinage, Bankrupt- 
cy, Weather Signals, the Postal Service and Money 
Order System, and Steamboat Inspection. The majority 
of these new functions have beeu created within the 
past ten years, and this addition, which has beeu forced 
upon government by the exigencies of the times and 
the imperative demands of a growing civilization, has 
been denounced b\' some very good, but dull, people, 
as " centralization " and " impefialismv" " Corpora- 
tions have no souls " is a popular proverb, and like all 
popular aphorisms, contains much truth. On theother 
hand the government of the United States considered 
as a corporation for administrative purposes — must 



hare both a conscience and a soul if the people 
whom it represents are not devoid of a gense of jus- 
tice. Thus, ihe question is presented, whether in view 
of all the circumstances the government cannot sue- 
ces-fuUv, economically and for the benefit of all, per- 
form addition il functions, which veare about to state. 
Can we not practically inaugurate the beneficial sida 
of cnrponitiou in place of the selfish and mercenary aide 
whidL now ba» sole dominion y 

' •! • ' i^ATTOJJAI. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. 

We seem to live in an era of more knowledge than 
wisdom, of mure encyclopedic information than vigor 
and originality of thought. The average is high; but 
excellence in statesmanship, literature, architecture 
and the line arts is exceedingly rare. This is owing, 
in a great measure, to the incompleteness of our 
school" svstem. There are two methods ot imparting 
knowledge— abstractlv, tbrough the memory, and ob- 
jectively through tho senses. One system is an accu- 
mulaiion of knowldge merely, thcoiher is a reception 
ot knowledge c 'mbinod with execution. The tndus- 
rriiil svstem teaches the practical use of knowledge, 
and begins with the infant or children's garden school, 
and is followed by industrial and polytechnic schools. 
Thus, the young" man i<i enabled to learn the use of 
tools ai;d muchinery. and the yotinc girl Ihe art of 
housekeeping and needlework, ond what is of greater 
importance, how to teach and biing np children. 

The evidence is overwhelming that all semi-genteel 
employments are over-crowded and underpaid. Posi- 
tions, like governiuciit or mercantile clerkships, mes- 
sengers, watchmen, conductors on street cars, and, in 
fact^ all places re<|uiring no special profes^iional or 
mechanical ability, are sought by thousands who have 
neglected to learii a trade or study a profession. This 
state of affairs i.^depIorabU' and causes poverty, crime, 
celibacy and nri-stitulion. 

It is not only the incontestable right but the impera- 
tive duty of every youth to learn, ihoronghty, some 
useful emplovmcnt.'and the government ou^ht to af- 
ford him thc'opportuniiy. His chances in life ought 
to be placed bev ond the'control of either capitalists or 
trades uoion.s, for in that manner alone can we check 
the growing tendency U)wards pauperism and improvi- 
dence and the over-crowding of the non-produiitive 
walks of life. 

Since the self-constituted leaders of the workihg- 
meo have so shamefully betrayed their cause, it be- 
comes a more urirent duty for the thoughtful men of 
the nation to study the libor problem, and to suggest 
practical weasures of improvement ; and first among 
these we place a well d'gested plan fur the organization 
of a National Industrial School »ystem'. For the 
colored population, who have never had the opportunity 
to learn a trade in a regular manner, but who have had 
to "pick it up." indiKstrial schools are the only road to 
competency and prosperity. 

A NATIOSAI^ LABOR BUKEAU. 

The first step for a Labor Bureau was taken by the 
House of Representatives in the adoption of Mr. 
Hoar's bill for the organization of a Board of Commis- 
sioners to investigate and report upon the labor ques- 
tion. This is beginning at the foundation, for it is of 
the first necessitv that the country be informed of the 
precise nature of the legislation designed to prevent 
the formation of a pauper and workingman's class in 
the United States. Let us know the mischief and the 
remedy technicallv and specifically, because remedial 
laws must be specific to be efficient. In the appoint- 
ment of a Labor Commission, care should be taken that 
not theoretical but practical men be selected who think 
in " provisos " and " be it enacted," as did that great 
statesman, Thad. Stevens. Of abstract books and es- 
says, we have an abundance, so that we need no further 
obscuration of the subject by these means. 



The National Labor Bureati onght to be cfaargied 
with the duty of issuing a monthly report, giving in- 
formation concerning the demands ("or particular kinds 
of mechanical and farming labor, the wages paid, the 
cost of living, the price of unimproved and improved 
lands, the donate, the cheapest route for passengers 
and freight, and all other specific information needed 
to.enable an industrious man to change his location 
with a reasonable certainty of obtaining employment. 
When a strike is organized by any portion of artisans, 
not merely they and their employers but the entire 
community is interested. The great losses that have 
occurred by lengthy suspensions of labor have fallen 
to a great extent upon innocent and disinterested par- 
tics. The prevention of strikes, without impairing the 
right of every man to sell his labor to the highest bid- 
der, ought to be the care of the legislator. In our 
opinion°it would be well to provide that before any 
strike is inaugurated, there shall be chosen a Board of 
Arbitration, two representatives from each side and a 
moderator appointed by the Commissioner of Labor, 
who shall have power to hear testimony and make a 
report thereon. Even if no penalties are provided for 
the inangcratioo of the .strike subsequently, tho moral 
support which the government and public opinion will 
give to the award of the arbitrators, will, in most cases, 
prevent this evil which is deprecated by the mostiotcl- 
figent advocates of the labor movement, and which 
always causes the most suffering to the nou-capitalist 
conti'stants. 

Many of the self-styled labor champions seem to 
think that the prosperity of all would be augmented by 
making all classes equally poor. For this purpose they 
have advocated numerous measures, among which is 
'• progressive taxation," which means an increase of the 
rnte of taxation, in proportion to the value of each 
man's estate, the rate being increased to the confisca- 
tion point when the capital reaches a million of dollars. 
The advocates of this and similar measures seem to 
viesv the subject through the wrong end of the teles- 
cope. The object of the real statesman is to devise 
measures securing thewell-being of all— by making all 
men prosperous and wealthy— to level upwards instead 
of downwards. If we were to advocate any change of 
taxation it would be to set apart the tax on tea, coffee 
or tobacco, as a national pauper lax, providing for a 
regular quarterly pension to all minors, females and 
unlbrtunates. whom a board of local officers had de- 
cided as being incapable of providing fully for their 
own support. We are expending large sums of pub- 
lic money to provide for our poor ; and supplement 
these expenditures by private benevolence, and yet the 
poor that arc most deserving are generally left unpro- 
vided, and all of them remain in a wretched condition 
of uncertainty— victims of crime and prostitution. But 
without special taxation and a change of our pauper 
system, which may be left to the future, much can be 
done to prevent poverty by systematic encouragement 
to frugality and temperance. 

POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS. 

Among these means are Post Office Savings Banks- 
Every child should be able to open an account even if 
he only deposits a dime. In view of the swindles per- 
petrated by private savings banks, the confidence of the 
workiugmen has bec 'me impaired, and they have, 
therefore, neglected to take advantage of these institu- 
tions. Moreover, savings banks are only established m 
large cities, while the Post Office Savings Bank can be 
introduced into every neighborhood, where there 
seems to be a demand for it. This system can also be 
used for the transfer of deposits, so that a citizen who 
has deposits in New York may take ;i traiisier draft for 
San Francisco, if he needs the money there. It can be 
used also as a circular letter of credit, each Postmas- 
ter endorsing, on the same, the amount advanced. 

It is estimated that no less than three hundred mil- 
lions, would be deposited, and to that extent the National 



debt can be placed at interest at four per cent, because 
the jjovernment need not have a lar^e margin on band 
to cover these deposite, for apreneral withdrawal is not 
possible. We believe that the Postal Savings Bank 
8y?tem, recommended by the Postmaster General, is 
well calculated to advance, not only the general inter- 
ests of the country, but particularly to stimulate fru- 
gality among the laboring classes, and we hope the 
people will msist on the legislation necessarj- for its 
inauguration. 

A SANITARY BUREAU. 

Next in importance to life, is health. Society is not 
only exposed to physical suffering, but to great pecuni- 
ary losses by the ill health, caused by ignorance, bad 
drainage, insufficient ventilation, and pestilence engen- 
dered by over-ciowding in wretched tenement houses. 
If the cholera or any other infectious or contagious 
disease is once bred by the gross violation of the laws 
of health it often sweeps over the entire continent, and 
thousands of victims are stricken down in the prime 
of life, leaving unprotected orphans to the cold mercies 
of the world, 

A Sanitary Bureau investigaticff the causes of dis- 
eases at their first appearance, and inauguratiug a uni- 
form code of sanitary laws, would necessarily contrib- 
ute to preserve the national health. The Government. 
under its direciions, might construct lodging houses 
for laborers and afiford them suits of rooms in comforta- 
ble and even elegant edifices, surrounded by gardens 
and play grounds with all modern comforts, at less 
rates than are now extorted by rapacious landlords. 
If the Government were to construct these lodging 
houses, heated by .steam, and supenntendud by compe- 
tent porters, and charge no more than five per cent on 
the investment and expenses. H is eslinKitcd that a suit 
of five rooms, on the second floor would not cost over 
one hundred and fifty dollars per year. This would 
be a great relief to all classes whose annual income is 
less than twelve hundred dollars, and result in no 
pecuniary loss to the Government. 

THE NATIONAL POSTAL TELEGRAPH SYSTEM. 

IXi England, where the people reside in close prox- 
imity, the use of the telegraph is much less a necessity 
than in the United States, the assumption by the gov- 
ernment of the telegraph lines, has not only resulted 
in a profit to the Government of a million of dollars 
above all expenses and the interest on the capital in- 
vested, but in a reduction of the rates formerly charged. 
if the Western Union Telegraph Company 'is not dis- 
posed to sell its property at a fair price, the Govern- 
ment can construct lines of its own, when that mono- 
poly can sell its poles for kindling wood and its wires 
for old iron. It is estimated that twenty-five cents per 
message of ten words and one cent per word up to 
fifty, and-a-half cent on each subsefjuent word would 
pay the interest on the capital invested and operatic 
expenses. The Post OflSce Department would escape 
all charges for office rent, and the telegraph operators 
in the minor offices might also discharge the duties of 
post-office clerks. The business would undoubtedly 
increase five fold when the prices charged would make 
the telegraph available for ordinary correspondence. 
The Post Master General, who bus thoroughly exam- 
ined the project, recommends the National Postal 1 ele- 
graph system to Congress for adoption, and we hope 
the press and the public will continue the agitation 
until relief is granted. 

A NATIONAL IMMIGUANT BUREAU. 

The immigraiit, who leaves his fatherland to seek a 
home in the United States, enjoys no protection either 
on board (if the immigrant sh'ip' nor while in trmitu in 
the United States. There is pending a measure of 
great inriportance, which, if j.assed, will place him 
ander the care of the Nat onal Government from the 
lime he steps on board the ship to embark for the 
United States until he has selected his future home 



and settled in it. Special jurisdiction is given to the 
United States Court Commissioners to take cognizance 
of all the impositions practiced upon the uninformed 
and unsuspecting immigrant. This project of law, 
which is sure to be adopted, and the treaties already 
perfected, securing the immigrant from impressment 
mto the army in case he returns temporardy to his 
former home, furnishes abundant evidence that the 
Republican party is the friend of the foreign immi- 
granis who seek our shores in good faith. It'is, there- 
fore, their corresponding duty to become Americans, 
not merely in name, but in reality; and to stand by 
their political friends. 

NATIONAL OR STATE FIRE INSURANCE, 

The great Chicago calamity, which may be repeated 
in New York and other commercial centers, f )r Chi- 
cago was as substantially constructed as the average of 
our larger cities, ought to teach us tbat it is not safe 
to trust to private Fire Insurance companies for pro- 
tection. Over fifty Insurance companies failed en- 
tirely, and those that did not suspend, entered into a 
combination to force compromises upon those citizens 
who needed the money for immediate investment. 

The majority of these competing Fire Insurance 
companies pay extravagant salaries, large per centages 
to agents, and incur heavy expenditures lor printing, 
advertising and contingent expenses. There is a very 
simple way of avoiding all this, and at the same time 
aftord the people a safe and cheap fire insurance upon 
their real estate. Divide the real estate of the coun- 
try into three classes, and allow every owner to insure 
to the amount of the appraisement for State taxation. 
Ihere is no difficultly in adopting rules which would 
enable local assessors to properly classify dweSings 
according to their probable safety. Class "A" com- 
prising brick, stone and detached buildings ; Class "B" 
comprising wooden buildings in rows, and certain 
classes ot shops; and Class "C" comprisingall hazard- 
ous risks. At the end of the)-earthe losses appertain- 
ing to each class, together with expeo.ses of adminis- 
tration, are apportioned to each class respectively, and 
the insurance tax is added to the state tax, and collected 
at the same time and by the same machinery. A care- 
ful examination of the subject enables us to state tbat 
insurance in Chiss "A" would not exceed twenty cents 
on the one hundred dollars insured ; in Class "B" 
forty cents, and in Class "C" one dollar, or one pei 
cent. Thus, by using either the State or National 
machinery, absolute safety may be secured, and a 
saving to the people in insurance alone be effected 
amounting to many millions of dollars per year. 

A NATIONAL HIGHWAY BY RAIL. 

The wasteful management on (he part of the ma- 
jority of our railways,' and the high rates charged for 
passengers and freights— particularly local freights, 
will sooner or later compel the State to purchase some 
of the leading lines for the use of the people, or to 
construct independent lines. The mere muliiplication 
of roads will not effect the cheapening of freights be- 
cause the costs of transportation are necessarily in- 
crtased. 'I he Government has given to the Central 
Pacific Railroad and branches, sixty-four millions of 
dollars, and at least, twenty millions of acres of land. 
This sacrifice was made to ihe foolish and unfounded 
prejudice— that the Government, cannot construct edi- 
fices and railways as cheaply as private parties. If 
the Government had built th^ road, even if it cost fifty 
thousand dollars per mile— :JOiiO miles at one hundred 
millions of dollars, the road would be ours, for the 
sole use 01 all the people; while now we have given 
more than that in money and lauds, and hold only a 
second mortgage on the road. 

If the Government were to construct a double track 
trunk road through central New York, Ohio, and In- 
diana, with branches to New York, Boston and Phila- 
delphia in the East, and Cincinnati, Chicago and St. 
Louis iu the West, simply owning the road bed, and 



allowing, as apon a highway, everr one to run a train 
who chooses, on complyiDjr with the rules and paying 
tolls, this great regulator of freights would save a 
number of millions of dollars tn our people who are 
compelled to paj so heayy a tribute to the railway 
magaates. 

TARIKF REFORM— WHAT DOE3 IT MBAN ? 

The iniiK>rtera of foreign merchandise baTC beetl 
particularly actire of late to induce our Oorernment 
to perpetuate the worst feafnres of our tariff system, 
and for this purpose they have ob-'cured the real ques- 
tion at issue until many good people have become con- 
fused. The assessment of duties upon the ad valorem 
system, in the place of specific duties, affords magnifi- 
cent opportuni ies to steal to the nnscrnpulous import- 
ers, who, generally, owe no allegiance to the United 
States, and who deem it a rare merit to cheat our Gov- 
ernment by ful^e invoices and the bribery of subordi- 
nuie iffFicials. We are, therefore, not surprised at the 
philanthropy of the Free Trade League lu spending 
largo sums of money to instruct the people how to 
vote. Nor is it at all strange that this ad vnlortm ini- 
quity is sought to be perpetnultd undf r the name of 
" lanff U«l>prm." because the cry of "Refirm" is a 
popular catchword, and u)en gunt-rallv laud those vir- 
tues, which they do not possess, but deem most desira- 
ble. 

What i« the Tariffy A mode of taxation. There are 
three imidus of taxation known to civiliied countries : 
Din'Ct taxation upon the real estate uDd personal prop- 
erty ; incomt.' tax. license and stump dutii'.>j, generally 
known as Internal Revenue la:^ ; and a levy of taxes 
upon imported goods, generally called the Tariif or 
Customs lax. 

Inasmuch as the Constitution of the United States 

Provides that direct taxation and represeotatiou ahall 
e equal, wh.ch means that each representative Dis- 
trict shall pay an eiiual amount; direct taxation be- 
comes impossible without lirst amending the Constitu- 
tion. If, Ibr ioetaoce, tlie threu hundred millions of 
dollars necessary to defray tlic expenses of the Govern- 
ment were apportioned among three huudrud repru- 
.«entative Uistncis the richest district of lSe\y York or 
Rhode Island would pay no more th.m tLe agricultural 
Districts of Iowa or Kansas, which, if sold by Sheriff 1 
Sale, realty uud all, would not bring more than a three j 
years tax. 

The next mode of taxation is the Internal Revenue | 
system. Tnis system sprung from the necessities of ! 
the late war and ought to die with it. We believe that 
there is scarcely a difference of opinion but that tUiis 
unpopular method of taxation, with its swarms of 
offici.ils and its great expeii.'^e should be circumscribed, 
and finally abandoned as soon as practicable. 

We now come to the Tariff mode of taxation. This 
mode has been found cheaper and more CDUvenieat 
than all others. All civilized countries have it. Eng- 
land, Germany, FraiiCL", Austria and Prussia derive 
about fifty per cent of their income from this source. 
Up to the brtaking out of the rebellion the entire ex- 
penses of the Federal Governraeni were defrayed by it, 
and we hope within tea years the income derived from 
this source will again be sufficient. 

One of the chief advantages of this mode of taxation 
is that those who are ooi largely consumers of im- 
ported goods escape taxes altogelLer. A ladv who 
purchases a silk dress worth $xOo, pays tju per cent 
ad valorem, which is a larger sum thau 4^l entire family 
pays per year, if its members wear muslins and cotton 
garments. 

Since then, the tariff is not only a necessary, but even 
the best mode of taxation yet devised, the only remain- 
iiig question is upon wtiat articles aud in what manner 
shall it be assessed. 

The Free Trade League advises that the tax shall be 
levied only upon articles which are not produced in the 
United States. What are these articles? Coffee, tea, , 
silks, fine wints, and a few other articles of luxury are ' 



I all that are not produced in the United States. Of 
course, three hundred millions of dollars cannot be 
levied upon these articles alone— besides general cus- 
tom has made coffee and tea, articles of necessity to the 
humblest families in the land, and, therefore, this 
would be a special tax upon the poor When during 
the war, a high tax was levied upon coffee, the national 
health suffered greatly from the vile and injurious sub- 
stitutes that were so universally in use. If, then, a 
tariff tax must be levied upon articles that can be pro- 
duced within the Unit^^^d States, and the tariff tax be- 
aimes incidental protection against foreign competi- 
tion upon what principlas is it to be adjusted ? To a 
very great extent this is a question of detail, each 
article standing partly by itself, and partly by its class. 
Memb^s of Congress must therefore be watched indi- 
vidually, whether they tiavor jobs and private interests 
at the public expense. 

There are invested in the various branches of manu- 
factures— in iron, lumber, woolen and cottons — at least 
one thousand millions of dollars. No less than two 
milli'Mis of inhabitants are directly supported by these 
interests. To strike these down by a sudden change 
of duty, in obedience to anv abstract theory, and thus 
bring misery and di.stress In millions of homes would 
be about as stntesman-like ns a decree that all frame 
aud log houses should bo destroyed in mid-winter upon 
the supposition that brick and stone are the most dura- 
ble and economical materials. The New Hampshire 
and CVmnecticut elections have conclusively shown, 
that the peonle do not intend to have these great iii- 
terests .sacrificed. 

1 he principles upon which the Administration r.- 
form tariU'is based, if applied, from year to year, widi 
increasing vigor, are adequate to give us the best pos- 
sible tarifi tax : 

First. To tax raw products and articles of necessity 
as lightly as possible. 

Second, lo place on the free list, all articles like 
drugs, spices, Ac, that yield but'a small revenue, re- 
spectively, because the expense of collection is greatei''' 
than the benefits derived from the tax. ' 

Third. To levy a specific tax per yard, or per pound, 
as fur as practictible, because the ad valorem system 
leads, necessarily lo perjury and fraud. It is, in fact, 
a premium held out to the unscrupulous man to become:' 
rich, both at the expense of the government and of his 
competitors in trade. 

And lastly. To Uix articles of luxury and highly'' 
skilled manufactures as much as they can bear, becau-^e*^ 
it IS against public policy to import largely the former, 
and because we oiigut to build up enterprises requir-' 
ing skilled labor within our own country. ' 

Thus has the Administration devised a wise and- 
radically reformatory tariff measure, which is designed: 
to break up the system of undervaluation which has 
converted foreign importers into millionaires. It is 
estimated that the revenue is defrauded twenty millions 
of dollars per year by bribery and undervaluation ; 
which frauds consiituce the real basis of the colossal 
fortunes accumulated by foreign importers at the ex- 
pense of the people. Genuine, not bogus reforms, are 
the order of the day. 

CKNTMALIZATION — WHAT DOES IT MEAS* 

The above are a few of the many pending issues in 
social and political economy whose solution may be 
podpimed but nor, avoided. i he Republican party does 
not, aud ought not lo make these new issues, pany 
questions, until they are thoroughly discussed and 
tried by the aggregate judgment of the people. BiU 
we caution those politicians who persist in walking the 
beaten track and in repeating the platitudes of the past, 
that the American nation is alive, and like all living 
organisms, demands changes and progress. Let us go 
forward slowly and cautioHsly, but be ever in the ad- 
vance, ever taking the initiative and affirmative, and 
we shall always deserve success. 



6 



In bringing forward these new administrative ques- 
tions, we are confronted by two objections wbieh we 
propose to meet: A tradiiional and ill-detined dislike 
toward centralization, and the allegation that the Civil 
Service of the U. S. Government is not sufliciently 
honest and capable to discharge these delicate and 
conipli* ated functions. 

Wc hive already stated that civilization demands 
that more powerful machinery than that of single 
individuals be used to transact certain business func- 
tions — that to supply this need large numbers of cor- 
porations have been organized, and that they, in their 
turn, have become arrogant, vvustefnl, dangerous to the 
public wcul and unsatisfactory. The only cjuestion 
presented is, shall we continue in the same direction, 
multiplying these private corporations; or siiall we 
substitute ohe gigantic business corporation, in which 
every citizen is a stockholder and voter. 

The powers of the Federal Government for all pur- 
poses iif Government are all suflicient. A Govern- 
ment that can impress millions of men in the military 
service, has all the powers requisite to maintain itself 
against all comers. Its powers to lay taxes, to main- 
tarn order and to declare war are complete. If this 
constitutes '• centralization," "imperialism," or "des- 
potism," we have it now, and cannot, by any possi- 
bility have more. But .vhat have we to tear? The 
twenty thousand regular troops ? or the influence of 
fifty thousand government agents in a prosperous 
nation of forty millions ? 

The Federal Government derives all its powers and 
support from public opinion, and in so far as it repre- 
sents the national will, it is omnipotent; but as soon 
as the supportof the miijori I y is withdrawn, it becomes 

Eowerless. This difference became strikingly manifest 
etween Lincoln and Johnson. Lincoln api.ointed and 
removed Military Governors and Major Generals ; he 
pocketed the rtconstrnction bill; he kept McUlellan 
and Montgomery Blair, beyond their time; he accepted 
the resignation of 8. P. Chase, the most powerful man 
in the party, and refu-ed to accept Seward's resigna- 
tion, though his removal was formally requested hy a 
majoritjr ot the President's political supporters in the 
Senate. But notwithstanding the opposition of the 
most influential leaders of the party, the people had 
faith in his integiity and stood by him with enthusiastic 
devotion. But Johnson who had earned the contempt 
of the majority, barely escaped impeachment, because 
he endeavored to rid himself of a personally distaste- 
ful Cabinet Minister. The question, whether certain 
acts of Administration shall be performed by State or 
National ofiicers is simply one of convenience and 
uniformity. Who dees not recollect the ancient strug- 
gles over a National Bankrupt Law, which has so 
quietly been accepted that ihvf notice it now. A uni- 
Ibrm exemption law, so that creditors and debtors may 
have equal and uniform rights in all the States, would 
be equally satisfactory. 

The National and State Governments derive their 
powers from the same source.' The President, Senate 
and House of Representatives are elected by the same 
constituency that elects the State Governments, and 
therefore a majority of them are always in accord with 
the National Government. Noitherisa check upon the 
other, but both are alike dependent for their power and 
stability upon the collective will of the people. 

Our nation is spread over a continenl — all the na- 
tions of Kurope, except Russia, dwell upon a less ex- 
tended space — and, therefore, a strong administrative 
influence is necessary to inspire a proper des;ree of 
national jpride and patriotic devotion. Unless we lose 
confidence in the liberty loving instincts and intelli- 
gence of the majority of our citizens, we need not fear 
that any dangers can arise by a simple transfer of 
business and administrative functions to the Federal 
Government, 'ihiscryof oentralization is tither the 
result of thoughtlessness, or of design on the part of 
those, whose interests are stibeerved by the retention 



of the present system of private corporations. 

The centrifugal forces of a nation like ours are very 
great. Differences of climate, of production, and of 
language and nationalities tend constantly toward dis- 
integration. There are thirty. seven State Govern- 
mjjuts now, and there will b'.' ti ty States a-half century 
hence, containing close on one hundred millions of in- 
habitants. It IS, therefore, wise statesmanship to teach 
the people to regard the Natonal Government as the 
proper agent to transact all those administrative func- 
tions where unitormily is one of the chief requisites. 
The National Government should be regarded with 
pride and affection as the representative of our nation- 
ality before the nations of the world, and as the great 
arbitrator of our internal differences. 

We believe with Sumner in the " imperialism of 
liberty," and in that centralization which makes the 
Federal Governmtnt the gu.irdian of every man's 
rights in the several States. The pitiful political catch- 
words of "imperialism"' and impending "military 
despotism" are a sure index of poverty of ideas, and 
like the gibberish of parrots aud i:jiiils, deserve only 
our contempt. These great questions of internal ad- 
ministration, which the near future presetits, must be 
intelligently discussed upon their own merits, and 
the cheap generalities, which are the refuge of those 
who care not to investigate and think for themselves, 
will be brushed aside quite unceremoniously by a criti- 
cal and wide awake community. 

TUE PRESENT CIVIL SERVICE — WHAT IT IS, 

Three classes of men have been busily engaged dur- 
ing the last six months to bury the Civil Service under 
a mountain of obloquy. The thieves of high and low 
degree, whom the Administration choked off frum the 
National Treasury, started the hue and cry, which was 
sedulouslv repeated by those who rather believe ill 
than good of th.'ir neighbors, and was finally made the 
chief and sole plank of the platfoim of the " Anything- 
to-beat-Grant-parfy," n'hich is engineered by the army 
of disappointed office-seekers, whom Grant, with rare 
sagacity, ref 'sed to trust, i heir sole hope of succlss 
lies in the expectation that they may be able to con- 
vince the people thai the Civil Service is so steeped in 
corruption that a general change is essential to the 
safety of the Republic. 

The gigantic frauds perpetrated by the Democratic 
leaders in New York city, where a hundred millions of 
dollars were stolen within two years, had made so pro- 
found an impression upon the public m nd, that Dtmo- 
cralic success became hopeless, unless the people could 
be persuaded that the Federal Administration was si ill 
worse. A concerted attack upon all branches of the 
National Civil Service was, therefore, devised as a 
counter irritant, to induce the people to forget the 
enormous corruptions which prevailed at the head- 
(piarters of Democracy. Never before in the history 
of our nation has any party or faction bien guilty of 
the bare-faced attempt to gain political success by 
sheer lying and defamation, tor we can prove, by tables 
compiled from official records that the amounts lost by 
defalcation of Federal officers have amounted to a less 
per cent, during Grant's Administration than during 
any preceding one, and constitute but an insignificant 
proportion ot the amounts of money collected and dis- 
bursed. 

If the wastage of an average family is ten cents a 
day, the five millions of families in the United Slates 
waste more each week than has been lost by defalc.i- 
tion of United States officials during an entire fiscal 
year. Justice demands that the people of the United 
States should fully understand these facts, for if 'officers, 
distinguished for their zeal aud integrity, were to bo 
driven out under a misapprehension, no man's worth 
and devotion to duty would be considered an adequate 
shield against partizan defam ition, and ofl5cers would 
grow utterly indifferent to public opinion. 
i There have been set at work twelve committees of 



inveBtigation, and the testimony already printed fills 
large to! limes. A draw-net has been spread to catch 
all the disappointed and dismissed officials, jail birds 
and other lyinfj wretches to swear away the character 
of our public men; and notwithstanding all this ma- 
lignity, and the extraordinary facility of obtaining 
testimony at public expense, every charge of corrup- 
tion bus fallen to the ground. If it were possible for 
the people of the United States to read this testimony 
all comments wo\ild be superfluous ; but as these im- 
mense volumes will grow musty in the vaults of the 
Cajiito!, we assert, and challenge successful contradic- 
tion, that neither the President, C'*.binet, nor the chief 
officers under the Government have been found derelict 
in their duty. 

CrVIL SERVICE REFORM. 

Although we fully believe that the Civil Service of 
(he United States is the equal iti intelligence, integrity 
and patriotism of that of any other nation, we do not 
deny, but that, like all human institutions it is suscepti- 
ble of improvement. Men have, in some instances, ob- 
tained office who have neither been sufficiently honest, 
patriotic or capable; and defalcations have taken place 
wbich may, by greater care and a b^'tter system of ac- 
countability, be avoided. 

But before we can have a higher standard of official 
integrity the people must reward as well as puni^h. 
Officersof standiogand integrity oujjht to be respected; 
and public opinion ought to frown down all attempts 
to assail them for the purpose of gaining partizan advuu 
tages. At present, public sentiment is not disposed to 
reward with its hearty approval the officers, who are 
earning the deadly hostility of powerful interests by 
defending the Government against the hoards of claim- 
ants that are endeavoring to devour the Xatioial in- 
come ; nor is it sufficiently determined to visit condign 
punishment upon those officers who baselv betrav their 
trusts. Botha sense of justice to uphold worthy oi- 
ficers, and certainty of punishment of the dishone.*!, 
are absolutely essential to Civri Service Reform. 

All feed offices ought to be abolished and salaries 
subetituted. The feed officers generally receive three 
times as much as their Sv-rvices are worth. There is 
DO good reason why the- Collector of New York should 
receive from forty to fifty thousand dollars a jear, while 
the Secretary ot the Treasury, a salaried officer, re- 
ceives but eight thousand, and the President of the 
United States but twenty five thousand dollars. It 
seems strange that this rotten English custom should 
ever have been engrafted on our Na!tional, State, and 
Municipal systems of government, and that this greedy 
and rotten system has maintained itself so long. A 
Civil Service Keform which continues this unequal and 
wasteful system is a mockery. 

Anotner safeguard against defalcation consists in 
placing less reliance on personal integrity and more on 
official discipline and efficiency ot organization. 
Special examiners should be appointed, who might be 
sent out at any time to examine the books of disburs- 
ing officers ; and a regular weekly return of all dis- 
bursements, aud of the money deposited should be 
exacted, and a thorough personal examination and 
comparison made as speedily as possible. 

Practice has shown that bail-bonds are very general- 
ly worthless and that reliance upon the personal integ- 
rity of otlicers is often misplaced ; because even care- 
lessness frequently results in great losses. A well 
organized system of accountability will be one of the 
essential conditions of an improved Civil Service, and 
will entirely prevent defalcation in large sums, and 
diminish those of a minor character. 

Officers should only be appointed from tbe friends 
and supporters of the Administration. A Govern- 
ment officer is alwavs an agent, never acting for him- 
self, but only for that invisible and gigantic corpora- 
tion, the Government of the United States. For the 
diligent discharge of his duties, it is essential that he 
should take a personal interest in the welfare of that 



Government, and in the dignity and prosperity of the 
Administration. The records show that by far the 
larger number of defaulters belong to that class of 
politically hostile and ioditferent persons who were ap- 
pointed by President Johnson, when it was the fashion 
to profess either not to have political convictions at all, 
or to be indifferent to politicsil success. 

Those are the worst enemies of the Republic who 
advise the withdrawal of the (Jivil Service from partici- 
pation in statesmanship— contemptuously called "po- 
litics" — and who are endeavoring to build up a system 
which would take no cngnizaiice of political opinions 
however dangen/us or erroneous If the tinle should 
ever come, when a purely technical exjminarion will bo 
considered a sufficient qualification for office, and per- 
sons entertaining monarchical, treasonable and 'dan- 
gerous ideas, are placed in positions of influence aud 
power; and the masses have, therebv, become convinced 
that political priDcinles do not need the most vigilant 
examination, the Republic must necessarily be de- 
stroyed by the the corruption which is always engen- 
dered by political igno;ance. 

The thorough agnation which precedes the President- 
ial election is absolutely necfssary for the political 
education of the people, and the withdrawal of that 
interest for any cause would creaie poiifical incapacity, 
corruption, and all kindred vices which always grow 
luxuriantly upon the soil of ignorance and iDdiiference. 

A technical and preliminary examination of a candi- 
date for an iiiferior appointed office is desirable, and if 
followed by a practical trial will give all the tests 
necessarv to ascertain capacHy. ihis part of Civil 
Service Reform, which, by charlatans is held up as the 
sole panacea for all our political ills, is the leasi- impor- 
tant aud least valuable of all the suggestions presented. 
Where the Government his lost one dollar on account 
of the incapacity of its officers, it has lost a thousand 
on account of dishoiiesty. We do uot wish to be un- 
derstood as opposing tests and examiuaiious, for they 
arc vr.luable aids; but we protest that they boeome 
iirjiir'oii to ii real rd'orm, when they are held out, like 
paten i medicines, as a cui'e-all of political ills. 

The Advisory Civil Service Uoard having reported a 
sysiom of rules, which provide for a more careful ex- 
ami'iHtion of all c-'ididates for appointment to 'the 
Civil Service, the Prej'iieut has i>sued a proclamation 
ordering their enforcement. The rules are still in- 
complete, but the experiment will receive a fair trial. 

THE PEUSONNEL OF THIS ADxMlNlSTKATlON. 

The deeds of General Grant, in crushing the Rebel- 
lion, are recorded bv the historic pen; and though 
the people of the United States may be-little thein 
selves, they cannot wrest a single laiir^l fromhis brow. 
Have we so soon forgotten the fearful anxiety th.it 
hung over the cotiotry when .M'Clellan failed, and 
Hooker, Burnside and Pope were tried and found 
wanting? Can we realize no longer the electric spark 
of joy which thrilled the heart of every man and wo- 
man in the loyal States when the peals of bells and the 
roar of cannons announced the fall of Richmond and 
the surrender of Lee with theentire Confederate armv? 
Is it possible that we can no longer give our admira- 
tion to that modest man who shrank trom every ova- 
tion? Without ostentation he managed his military 
campaigns ; and so quietly were our armies disbanded 
that all apprehensions vanished, and every citizen felt, 
that, notwithstanding we have had a million of men 
under arms, the Republic was safe. When President 
Johnson pursued his erratic course. Congress threw 
special protection around the Lt. General because it 
looked upon him as its strong atia of delence. And 
when Grant becaine President, in acccordance with 
the unanimous wish of the Repubhcau party, eatlorseJ 
by a majority of the American people, he said, in his 
inaugural address, that he would have " no policy to 
enforce against the will of the people." This pledge 
he has faithfully kept. All laws which Congress placed 
upon the statute book, he has faithfully carried out j 



B 



and his most malippiant foes have not been able to fasten 
upon him a single questionable act, or to impugn his 
motives. Both as commander in chief of our armies, 
and as President, he has served the people with fidelity 
and to the full measure of his capacity. , 

'I'he members of his Cabinet— Boutvvell, Fish. De- 
liino, Belknap, Robeson, and "Williams, are distin- 
guished, not merely for personal integrity, but for un- 
usual zeal to administer the Government in the most 
economical manner. Three hundred millions of dol- 
lars have been saved in three years — a sum of such 
magnitude that the figures present but an indefinite 
idea to most minds. This vast sum could not have 
been saved and paid to the public creditors, it the ut- 
most integrity and economy had not obtained in every 
department of administration. 

The officers next in rank, and as far as integrity and 
economy in the public service are concerned, of equal 
importance to the Cabinet, are the United States Treas- 
urer, the two Comptrollers of the Treasury, the Cum- 
missionerof Indian affairs, the Commissioner of Inter- 
nal Revenue, and the Supervising Architect. We 
find that these offices are tilled by gentlemen of the 
highest qualifications, so that their places could with 
difficulty be supplied. Never since the foundation of 
(he Government has there been more of character, of 
fidelity, of patriotism, and of zeal to discharge the duties 
appertaining to the Civil Service well, thau there is 
at this time, and great earnestness has been manifested 
to discover peculators, and whenever found, they have 
been promptly dismissed and punished. 

WHAT DO THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS WANT? 

The public policy and sy.stcm of measures adopted 
by the Republican party and the present Administra- 
tion have given such universal satisfaction and are so 
fully adapted to the wants ot the American people, that 
all objections thereto have been abandoned. The op- 
position is entirely personal, and all the lose political 
elements are sought to be combined into an "Any- 
Ihmg-tobeat-Grant" party. To offset the eminent 
and "glorious achievements of the Republican party, 
we are told that there have been some bad appoint- 
ments and more disappointments. 

Nearlv the entire number of self-styled Liberal Re- 
publicans have been made by President Grant, for the 
refusal of unreasonable requests and a want of defer- 
ence to Iheir imperious demands are the obvious causes 
fort heir dissatisfiction. Dana, Greeley, Schurz, Tipton 
and Trumbull, who seem to constiluie both the lead- 
ers and membership of this new party, are one and all 
men With a personal grievance — commoniyand graphi- 
cally described as "sore-heads.'! 

The attempt to create a new party without the ghost 
of a new idea— a party built upon personal grievances 
and animosities is not likely to be crowned with suc- 
cess. Whether the opposition minority will fullow 
ne.\t fall the example of the sore-heads of Connecticut 
and New Hampshire, and split into three or four dif- 
ferent factions, or agree to unite upon one ticket, is a 
matter with which the Republican party has no concern. 

Our Government and nation are moving forward in 
the majesty of their strength and consciousness of 
power; and before a philosophic view, all insiguiQcant 
matters, like the " Sile of arms question," "the San 
Domingo controversy," and other trivial matters whose 
names we have already forgotten, will disappear like 
the fog before the rising sun. We were rejoiced when 
Carl Schurz, as a representative of that worthy and 
thoughtful element flf our nation, the German adopted 
citizens— took his seat in the Senate. We had high 
hopes that he would give strength to our institutions, 
una aid in devising new measures of national progress. 



We are sorely disappointed, however, ia finding that 
his talents, though considerable, are purely of the ne- 
gative and destructive order. There is not a single 
proposition which he has advanced— not a single act 
of legislation that he has originated and attempted to 
place upon the statute book. His entire talents have 
been devoted to the dem.olitlon of the party which 
placed him where he is. Instead of leading the way to 
a mora cordial union between the native Americana 
and Germans, he is sowing the seeds of dissatisfaction, 
creating alienation of feeling, and to the extent of his 
influence, it is calamitous. The Germans of the United 
States must certainly suffer in the estimation of Ameri- 
cans, when he who has been considered their best rep- 
resentative, is simply a mischief-maker, treacherous as 
an Indian, and unworthy of political confidence. It 
is, therefore, of the utmost necessity to the German 
Republicans that Carl Schurz be repudiated, and re- 
manded to the insignificance, from which he emerged 
solely as the pretended friend and representative of the 
Republican party. 

Whenever the real representative of German worth 
and mental and moral power shall appear upon the 
political stage, it will be the thoughtful, studious and 
philosophic statesman, who will point out the path of a 
higherand more enduring civilization, " The Ismes of 
(he Future" will be his theme; and by sinking his own 
personality in the great cause he will achieve that re- 
nown and immortality which crown those only who 
seek them not. The present alone is ours, and the con- 
scientious discharge of those duties which llie present 
evolves, constitutes the highest usefulness, and the 
most enduring statesmanship. The past is accessory 
and present in example ; the future becomes a presence 
in the chain of consequences ; and the solution of prob- 
lems which the present demands, in the light of both, 
constitutes abiding statesmanship. 

The traveler approaching the upper Alps, via Luzern 
sees the lake of the Four (Jantous guarded bv ivvo 
mountains, which, like faithful sentinels walch the 
entrance on cither side. The "Righi," graceful and 
uniform like a success on of terraces, is accessible by 
railway, though oOui) Ibet in height, and has often been 
compared to the female form, wh.le the "Pilatus," 
rising upwards of 7000 feet, is a projection of rocky 
walls, rifted and irregular, bearing seven "horns" or 
towers upon its jagged summit. In the valley the view 
is contracted ; liiHs and bluffs hem in Luzern and the 
lake in every direction ; but from the summit of the 
Pilatus the plain unrolls itself like a;i immense scroll, 
and before a powerful telescope dissolves itself like the 
Milkv Wayj into constellations of cities, villages, lakes, 
orchards, and villas. Below a hill of a thoijsanil fjet 
seems a mountain, but from that heght it is a mero 
wart upon the earth's surface. 

1 bus, from the heights of faith and philosophy the 
pitiful molehills of d' sap pop ted polit ciatis disappear ; 
the apparent evils, magnified by interested part zans, 
dwindle into mere warts on the body politic, while the 
permanent and progre.ssive principles of which the 
Republican party is the faithful exponent, are reflecting 
the beneficent sun.shine of everlasting truth. As the 
scroll of centuries slowly unrolls, .tnd the p.'werofour 
pro<^res3ive civilization," and regard for the rights of 
man, brings all nations under oar influence, as " thef 
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings," let usi 
be thankful that our lot has been cast in a country andl 
in an era, when we may be humble co-workers in the- 
beautiful and enduring edifice of State— began by 
Washington and consecrated by Lincoln, which will 
ultimately shelter all mankind. Be firm iu the right, 
and "all it well." 



HIS OFFICIAL RECORD 



EXTRACTS FROM HIS ANNUAL MESSAGES. 



[Published by the Republican Congressional Committee, Washington, D. C] 



In pursuance of the affirmative policy which we have marked out for the conduct 
of the ensuing campaign, we propose to meet the charges that the President is not 
qualified for the faithful and acceptable discharge of the Presidential functions, by 
•nermitting him to speak for himself. We have, therefore, for the convenience of 
the reader, arranged his utterances in his last three annual messages by topics, so 
that every citizen may judge for himself of the President's statesmanship. Extracts, 
without regard to date, have been arranged upon the same topics, which is the 
severest test to which any political writer can be subjected. So fully has the subject 
been thought through ; so carefully — feeling the full weight of official responsibility — 
have the words been chosen, that there is a remarkable uniformity of opinion and 
style. We venture to say that the most expert critic will be unable to discern from 
which message a' given sentiment was taken. 

It will be seen that the subjects embraced are numerous, comprising all controverted 
questions— no concealment or evasion of issue having been attempted. Thus our po- 
litical foes are either compelled to adopt the identical principles and doctrines herein 
set forth, a:v:l then there can be no other issue than one of personal animosity ; or 
they will be compelled to set up views in opposition thereto. In either case they will 
not be likely to meet with success. The President has endeared himself person- 
ally to the people by his military renown and his unswerving integrity ; while his 
political views are so judicious, humane, and progressive ; so eminently safe and con- 
siderate, that it Vy-ill require unusual recklessness and Impudence to attempt to refute 
them. 



The only regret we have is tliat limltatioa of space has compelled us to cut down 
the argument in some instances, and to omit his views upon subordinate topics, 
which, injustice to their author, ought to be presented. Imperfect in these respects 
as this essay is, it is however amply sufficient to demoustrate to all fair-minded men 
that President Grant is pre-eminently wise and safe in the conduct of public affairs- 

THE president's IIILITARY RECORD. 

Allusions to General Grant's military achievements seem to be as distasteful to the 
unrepentant rebels and their allies as the sight of water to the victims of hydrophobia. 
Those who did their utmost to destroy the American nation, and who only yield obe- 
dience to superior force to-day, are of course enraged at the me atlon of the capture 
of Vicksburg and Richmond, and the surrender of Lee; while their civilian allies 
contend that an enumeration of Grant's military achievements is taking an unfair 
advantage. The former class insist that Grant never was a superior General, while 
the latter reluctantly concede his military success, but protest that it has no bearing 
upon a Presidential campaign. We are not disposed to concede this allegation. 
Grant's military ekcliicvomcnts a.ra part of his history and character, and if the oppo- 
sition have no man of equal renown to pit against him, it is their misfortune and nut 
our fault. 

Had the rebellion succeeded a continent would have been split into fragments, and 
the only great Republic — the light and hope of the peoples of the world — would have 
gone down in anarchy and confusion. Under Providence we are indebted for na- 
tional existence itself to General Grant and to the legion of brave men living and 
dead, who cither sacrificed or offered to sacrifice their lives, which is the highest 
measure of devotion which men can bring to the support of a great cause. 

Grant's military career has not only reflected glory and renown upon our nation, 
but can well be interposed against the accusations of a want of patriotism or general 
ability. The history of all nations has proved beyond successful contradiction that 
military success in a long struggle, with a million of men in the field, can only be 
achieved by men of a high order of intellect. An ignorant man may stumble upon 
success ; but the strategy necessary to the capture of Vicksburg, Richmond, and Lee's 
army, together with the planning of the Sherman campaign, tested the mental capacity 
and resources of the Commander-in-Chief of our armies in an unmistakable manner. 
Justice to him and to our national' character demands that the glorious memories of 
the mutual suuerings and triumphs of the "Boys in Blue,'' shall be revived, and the 
roll-call of the guard of honor shall not be neglected. 

The President's modesty, which has often induced him to go to the utmost verge 
of deserting Presidential dignity, to avoid the appearance of arrogance or self-asser- 
tion, and his gift of silence in a nation of talkers, have given his personal and political 
enemies a chance to pursue two lines of arsumcut, -vvLicli thoy urge alternately in 
perfect unconsciousness of their self-contradiction. At one time he is represented afs 
a Sphyns— n, scheming plotter in conjunction with an imaginary military ring for the 
destruction of a nation's liberty ; a dangerous vampire, who will transmute the Re- 
public into an empire with Ulysses I. as Emperor ; while the nest day, perhaps, he 
is held up as an ignorant tool of designing men, only fit to talk horse and smoke 
cigars. 

Tlie truth is he is a careful, judicious, painstakitg man, exceedingly anxious to 
discharge his duties faithfully, and to execute the legally expressed will of the na- 
tion. It is true he assumed the Presidential duties with reluctance and diffidence ; 
but from the day of his inauguration he has not merely sought to learn, but, as wo 



^ 3 

^ shall prove, has succeeded ia finding the r^isest and safest course o^ P^^gr^^^'^^^^ 
c; statesmanship. With this brief introductory ^.e propose to allow tim to speak for 
- himself. 

■^ THE COXSTITL-TIOXAL SPHERE OF EXECUTIVE DUTIES. 

President Johnson, and a number of his predecessors based the success of their ad- 
mi! str at s .pen a' purely legislate basis. They held that the Executive dut.es 
.ere too insien ficant to achieve renown ; and therefore staked then- success upon a 
^g latlve policy. President Grant in his inaugural address defined the Proper con- 
sltutional Lhere of the Executive power ; and he did it so conc.se y ana completely 
that nothing can bo added or omitted to advantage. The primary duty of the Presi- 
dent is the faithful execution of all laws. Thus the Executive power ^^^f^J^ 
sphere co-ordinate with Congress, and can never be made too strong, because it repre- 
sents the arm of the Government-the will of the nation legally expressed. The 
power to recommend is secondary and incidental. The Executive enjoys this right 
in common with all other citizens. He participates in the legislation of tne country 
only through the veto power, which a President should exercise upon grea. questions, 
only in rar'e instances, and for ample cause. 

We propose herewith to give the first two paragraphs of the inaugural address, 
.hich contains more substance to the same namber of words than any similar docu- 
ment with which we are acquainted : 

^^Cm^ens of the United States : Your suffrages having elevated me t? ^'f^o^f ^,^J 
■o vwnfilirunited States, I have, in conformity with the Cons itution ot oui 
President of ^^^f, ^^^.^'V^ ^^^^^^^ Bre-cribed therein. I have taken this oath without 
country, taken he «; 5^fj^^«"^^;f, ^^^^ .fto ^« ^^ '^^ best of my ability all ,that it 
?4ur s"<5"r. ThT J^^^^^^^^^^^ -e unsought I commence its duties un 

Sammded I bring to it a conscientious desire and determination to fill ^t to the 
best of my ability to the satisfaction of the people. 

- On all leading questions agitating the public mind I jijl always ejP'J^rB 7 J^^^ 
, n ^r.„ „r,ri ^vn-o *hpm aceordn" to mv laao-ment ; ana wiien ± tnmu. 11 auvisduiu 
'°M?.S ;^fe colstVtSal r>^^^ of int^erposing a veto to defeat measures 
"1 • I T n^fo^i Bufa 1 av^s will be ffithfuUy executed, whether they meet my ap- 
^vhich I oppose. ^^"|,^'/:iy ',;(' t3hj,,.e a policy to recommend, but none to en- 
proval o'-.^^^. ^^l^if L^'^jf;;;^^^^^^^ L^ws are to fovern all alike, those opposed to 
(r^ellTthoSVh^fvo^^^^^^^ the repeal of bad or 

obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.' ' . . . 

In comin- before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this great nation it is 
.vi h SSitu'de to the^Giver of all good for the many benefits we enjoy ; we are blessed 
Ti h peace at home, and are without entangling alliances abroad to ^o^f ^^^^^Jf "^le 
w h a population of forty millions of free people, all speaking one language ; with 
T'cilitiL for every mortal to acquire an education ; with institutions c osing to none 
ihe avenues to flme or any blessing of fortune that may be coveted : with freedom of 
{he pulpit'the press, and the school ; with a revenue flowing into the national Treas- 
ury beyond the requirements of the Government. 

The^e blessings and countless others are intrusted to your care and mine for safe- 
keeping, for the brief period of our tenure of office. In a short time we must, each 
of us return to the ranks of the people who have conferred upon us our honors, and 
account to them for our stewardship. I earnestly desire that neither you nor I may 
be condemned by a free and enlightened constituency, nor by our own consciences. 
On my part, I promise a rigid adherence to the laws, and their strict enforcement. 

In addressing my third annual message to the law-making branch of the Govern- 
ment, it is gratifying to be able to state that during the past year success has gen- 
erallv attended the efibrt to execute all laws found upon the statute-books. The 
r,olicv has been, not to inquire into the wisdom of laws already enacted, but to learn 
Iheir spirit and intent, and to enforce them accordingly. I submit these suggestions 
with a confidence that your combined action will be wise, statesmanlike, and m the 
best interests of the whole country. 



EDUCATION. 

We place first on the list of topics the subject of education. The President alludes 
to it on every suitable occasion, and it should be observed that the measure, known as 
Hoar's bill, was first recommended by him in the sentence, " Educational interests 
may well be served by the grant of the proceeds of the sale of public lands to ' 
settlers." 

The subjects of education and agriculture are of great interest to the success of our 
republican institutions, happiness, and grandeur as a nation. 

The time-honored and beneficial policy of setting apart certain sections of public 
land for educational purposes in the new States should be continued. 

Educational interest may well be served by the grant of the proceeds oftiie sale of 
public lands to settlers. I do not wish to be understood as recommending, in the 
least degree, a curtailment of what is being dene by the General Government for the 
encouragement of education. 

The enlarged receiots of the Post Office Department are an index of the growth ot 
education and of the prosperity of the people, two elements highly conducive to the 
vigor and stability of Kepublics. 

Education, the ground-work of republican institutions, is encouraged by increasing 
the fxcilities to gather speedy news fromall parts of the country. The desire to reap 
the benefit of such improvements will stimmaie education. 

THE WOREIXGMAN. 

The workingman is not forgotten. In every message there is a kindly word and 
the utterance of a striking truth. "Persons before things" is the keynote of his 
statesmanship when he states : "The true prosperity and greatness of a nation is to 
be found in the elevation and education of its laborers," a sentence worthy of being 
placed on our campaign banners. 

By the late war the industry of one-half of the country had been taken from the 
control of the capitalists and placed where all labor rightfully belongs— in the keeping 
of the laborer. 

The freedmen, under the protection which they have received, are making rapid 
progress in learning, and no complaints are heard of lack of industry on their part 
where they receive fair remuneration for their labor. 

The opinion that the public lands should Ifc regarded chiefly as a source of revenue 
is no longer maintained. The rapid settlement and successful cultivation of them are 
now justly considered of more importance to our well-being than is the fund which 
the sale of them would produce. The remarkable growth and prosperity of our nev7 
States and Territories attest the wisdom of the legislation which invites the tiller of 
the soil to secure a permanent home on terms within the reach of all. The pioneer 
who incurs the dangers and privations of a frontier life, and thus aids in laying tho 
foundation of new commonwealths, renders a signal service to his country, and is en- 
titled to its special favor and protection. These laws secure that object and largely 
promote the general welfare. They should, therefore, be cherished a a permanent 
feature of our land system. 

I renew my recommendation that the public lands be regarded as a heritage to our 
children, to be disposed of only as required for occupation and to actual settlers- 

The true prosperity and greatness of a nation is to be found in the elevation and 
education of its laborers. 

AGRICULTUKE. 

In every message our agricultural interests are favorably mentioned. We extract 
the following sentences, which are sufficient to indicate his sentiments upon this im- 
portant subject : 

I recommend to your favorable consideration the claims of the Agricultural Bu- 
reau for liberal appropriations. In a country so diversified in climate and soil as 
ours, and with a population so largely dependent upon agriculture, the benefits that 
can be conferred by properly fostering this bureau are incalculable. 

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture gives the operations of his Depart- 
ment for the year. •As agriculture is the ground-work of our prosperity, too much 



importance cannot be attached to the labors of this Department. Quietly, but surely, 
the Agricultural Bureau is working a great national good, and if liberally supported, 
the more widely its influence "will be extended and the less dependent we shall be 
upon the products of foreign countries. 

COMiSiERCE. 

The revival of our foreign commerce, and the increase of facilities in domestic 
transportation, has commanded the President's earnest attention, and he has been 
ready to adopt all proper measures to forward these important interests : 

The loss of onr commerce is the only result of the late rebellion which has not 
received sufficient attention from you. To this subject I call your earnest attention. 
The whole nation is interested in securing cheap transportation from the acricul- 
tural States of the West to the Atlantic seaboard. To the citizens of tliose_ States it 
secures a greater return for their labor ; to the inhabitants of the seaboard it affords 
cheaper food; to the nation, an increase in the annual surplus of wealth. 

Our depressed commerce is a subject to which I called your special attention at the 
last session, and suggested that v/e will in the future have to look more to the coun- 
tries south of us, ancl to China and Japan, for its revival. Our representatives to all 
these Governments have exerted their influence to encourage trade between the 
United States and the countries to which they are accredited. Cut the fact exists 
that the carrying is done almost entirely in foreign bottoms, and while this state of 
affairs exists we cannot control our due share of the commerce of the world. 

The cost of building iron vessels, the only ones that can compete with foreign ships 
in the carrying trade, is so much greater in the United States than in foreign coun- 
tries that, without some assistance from the Government, they cannot be successfully 
built here. There v/ill be several propositions laid before Congress in the course of 
the present session looking to a remedy for this evil. Even if it should be at some 
cost to the national Treasury, I hope such encouragement will be given as will secure 
American shipping on the high seas and American ship-building at home. 

MANUFACTURES — THET MUST BE ENCOURAGED. 

Every citizen will recognize the importance of the suggestions made in reference 
to our manufactures. The workingmen of America can find no truer friend or more 
earnest advocate : 

Our manufactures are increasing with v/onderful rapidity under the encouragement 
which they now receive. "With the improvements in machinery already effected, and 
still increasing, causing machinery to take the place of skilled labor to a large extent, 
our imports of many articles must fall off largely within a few years. Fortunately, 
too, manufactures are not confined to a few localities, as formerly, and it is to ba 
hoped will become more and more diffused, making the interest in them equal in all 
sections. They give employment and support to hundreds of thousands of people at 
home, and retain with us the means which otherwise would be shipped abroad. The 
extension of railroads in Europe and the East is bringing into competition with our 
agricultural j^rcducts like products of other countries. Self interest, if not self- 
preservation, therefore, dictates caution against disturbing any industrial interest of 
the country. 

TARIFF REFORM. 

Since the Tariff Reform question is made a plank in the opposition platform we 
give the President's views in full, as announced in his two last messages, and bespeak 
for them a careful perusal. No man can be more heartily in favor of real, practical 
reform, and not a mere buncombe talk about it, than President Grant ; 

The tax collected from the people has been reduced more than eighty millions of 
dollars per annum. By steadiness in our present course, there is no reason why, in 
a few short years, the national tax-gatherer may not disappear from the door of the 
citizen almost entirely. With the revenue stamp dispensed by postmasters in every 
community ; a tax upon liquors of all sorts, and tobacco in all its forms ; and by a 
wise adjustment of the tariff, which will put a duty only upon those articles 
"which we could dispense with, known ^s luxuries, and on those which we use 
more o|" than we produce, revenue enough may be raised, after a few years of 
peace aild consequent reduction of indebtedness, to fulfill all our obligations. A 



6 

further reduction of expenses, iii additloa to a reduction of interest account may 
be relied on to make this practicable. Revenue reform, if it means this, has my 
hearty support. If it implies a collection of all the revenue for the support of Cfov- 
erument, for the payment of principal and interest of the public debt, pensions, «ic., 
by directly taxing the people, then 1 am against revenue reform, and confidently be- 
lieve the people are with me. If it means failure to provide the necessary means 
to defray all the expenses of Government, and thereby repudiation of the public 
debt and pensions, then I am still more opposed to such kind of revenue reform. 
Revenue reform has not. been defined by any of its advocates, to my knowledge ; but 
seems to be accepted as something which is to supply every man's wants without any 
cost or efl'ort on his part. 

A true revenue reform cannot be made in a day ; but must be the work of national 
legislation and of time. As soon as the revenue can be dispensed with, all duty 
should be removed from coffee, tea, and other articles of universal use not produced 
by ourselves. The necessities of the country compel us to collect revenue from our 
imports. An army of assessors and collectors is not a pleasant sight to the citizen, 
but that or a tariff for revenue is necessary. Such a tariff, so far as it acts as an en- 
couragement to home production, affords employment tj labor at living wages, in 
contrast to the pauper labor of the Old "W^orld, and also in the development of home 
resources. 

- In readjusiing the tariff, I suggest that a careful estimate be made of the amount of 
surplus revenue collected under the present laws, after providing for the current ex- 
penses of the Government, the interest account, and a sinking fund, and that this 
surplus be reduced in such a manner as to afford the greatest relief to the greatest 
number. There are many articles not produced at home, but which enter largely 
into general consumption through articles v^hich are manufactured at home, such as 
medicines compounded, &c., &c., from which very little revenue is derived, but 
which euteV into general use. All such articles I recommend to be placed on the 
"free list." Should a further reduction prove advisable, I would then recommend 
that it ]>e made upon those articles which can .best bear it without disturbing home 
production, or reducing the wages of American labor. 

INDIAN rOLlCY. 

The American historian v/ill assign to Grant a high place as the author of a nev/ 
Indian policy. Having as a soldier, stationed at the outposts, become practically ac- 
quainted with these wards of the nation, he alludes to the subject in his inaugural and 
in every message. No one act of his life can be more creditable than the interest he 
has taken in these outcasts, from whose good vrill no personal or political benefits 
can be reaped. We regret that we have only space for the following : 

The policy pursued toward the Indians has resulted ftivorably, so far as can be 
judged from the limited time during which it has been in operation. Through the 
exertions of the various societies of Christians to whom has been intrusted the exe- 
cution of the policy, and the board of commissioners authorized by the law of April 
10, 1869, many tribes of Indians have been induced to settle upon reservations, to 
cultivate the soil, to perform productive labor of various kinds, and to partially ac- 
cept civilization. They are being cared for in such a way, it is hoped, as to induce 
those still pursuing their old habits of life to embrace the only opportunity which is 
left them to avoid extermination. 

I recommend liberal appropriations to carry out the Indian peace policy, not only 
because it is humane. Christian like, and economical, but because it is right. 

'" But because it is right," a very excellent sentiment so modestly put that it al- 
most escapes the attention of the casual reader. The close scrutiny of these messages 
required to make these extracts has forced the conviction upon us that " because it 
is right," has been the guiding star of the President's career. 

PKOTECTION' 10 IMMIGRANTS. 

The preson: Administration is the first that has been earnestly disposed to protect 
immigrants and naturalized citizens. As special efforts are being made to render the 
German element dissatisfied v:q give ample extracts. In addition to the treaties ne- 



gotiated, a special agent was dispatched to esamine the subject, and the important 
measure for the betterj)rotection of immigrants, now pending ia Congress, has the 
cordial support of the Administration. 

The ratification of the consular and naturalization conventions with the Austro- 
Hungarian Empire have been exchanged. 

The ratifications of the naturalization convention between Great Britain and the 
United States have also been exchanged during the recess ; and thus, a long standing 
dispute between the two Governments has been settled, in accordance with the princi- 
ples always contended for by the United States. 

The unsettled political condition of other countries, less fortunate than our own, 
sometimes induces their citizens to come to the United States for the sole purpose of 
becoming naturalized. Having secured this, they return to their native country and 
reside there, v.'ithout disclosing their change of allegiance. They accept otTicial posi- 
tions of trust or honor, which can only bo held by citizens of their native land ; they 
journey under passports describing them as such citizens ; and it is only when civil 
discord, after perhaps years of quiet, threatens their pftrsons ov tlieir property, or 
when tneir native ^ato drafts them into its military service, that the fact of their 
change of 'allegiance is made known. I have directed the diplomatic and consular 
officers of the United States to scrutinize carefully all such claims of protection. 
The citizen cf the United States, whether native or adopted, who discharges his duty 
to his country, is entitled to its complete protection. While I have a voice in the 
direction of affairs, I shall not consent to imperil this sacred right by conferring it 
upon fictitious or fraudulent claimants. 

On the accession of the preseni Administration, it was found that the minister for 
North Germany had made propositions for the negotiation of a convention for the pro- 
tection of emigrant passengers, to which no response had been given. It was con- 
cluded that, to be effectual, all the maritime Powers engaged in the trade should join 
in such a mea?ure. Invitations have been extended to the cabinets of London, Paris, 
Florence, Berlin, Brussels, The Ilague, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, to empower 
their representp-tives at ^V'ashington to simultaneously enter into negotiations, and to 
conclude with the United States, conventions identical in form, making uniform regu- 
lations as to ihc construction of the jiarts of vessels-to be devoted to the use of emi- 
grant passengers, as to the quality and quantity of food, as to the medical treatment 
of the sick, and as to the rules to be observed during the voyage, iu order to secure 
ventilation, to promote health, to prevent intrusion, and to protect the females, and 
providing for the establishment of tribunals in the several countries, for enforcing 
such regulations by summary process. 

The riumbor of immigrants ignorant of cur laws, habits, &c., coming into our 
country ann::aliy has become so great, and the impositions practiced upon them so 
numerous ar.d flagrant, that I suggest Congressional action for their protection. It 
seems to me a fair subject of legislation by Congress. I cannot now state as fully as 
I desire the nature of the complaints made by immigrants of the treatment they re- 
ceive, but will endeavor to do so during the session of Congress, particularly if the 
subject should receive your attention. 

.PAi'MEN'T A^"D KEFUXDIKG OF TUE NATIONAL DEBT. 

It must be >7ithin the recollection of all reading men that, at the time of Grant's 
inauguration, repudiation was openly advocated, and the wildest theories obtained of 
how to extinguish the public debt without pa^in^r it. Already in his inaugural and fa 
every messazc he insisted upon the prompt reduction of the debt with the happiest 
results : 

The vast resources of the nation, both developed and undeveloped, ought to make 
our credit the best on earth. With a less burden of taxatioii than the citizen has 
endured for six years past, the entire public debt could be paid in ten years. But it 
is not desirable that the people shoukrbe taxed to pay it in that time, Year by year 
the ability to pay increases in a rapid ratio. But the burden of interest ought to be 
reduced as rapidlv as can be done without the %'iolation of contract. It is believed 
that all bonds'" which are now due may be replaced by bonds bearing a rate of interest 
not exceeding four and a half per cent., and as rapidly as the remainder become due 
that they may be replaced iu 'the same way. With an acquiescence on the part of 



lat they may be replaced iu the same way 
le whole people in the national obligation 



the whole people in the national obligation to pay the public debt, created as the 



price of our Union ; tlie pensions to our disabled soldiers and sailors, and Iheir 
widows and orphans ; and in the changes to the Constitution which have been made 
necessary by a great rebellion, there is no reason why we should not" advance in ma- 
terial prosperity and happiness, as no other nation ever did, after so protracted and 
devastating a war. The national debt has been reduced to the extent of eighty- sis 
million dollars during the year, and by the negotiation of national bonds at a lower 
rate of interest, the interest on the public debt has been so far diminished that now 
the sum to be raised for the interest account is nearly seventeen million dollars less 
than on the 1st of March, 1869. It was highly desirable that this rapid diminution 
should take place, both to strengthen the credit of the country, and to convince ita 
fcitizens of their entire ability to meet every dollar of liability without bankrupting 
them. But in view of the accomplishment of these desirable ends ; of the rapid de-| 
velopment of the resources of the country ; its increasing ability to meet large de''-: 
mands, and the amount already paid, it is not desirable that the present resources oft 
the country should continue to be taxed in order to continue this rapid payment. I 
therefore recommend a modification of both the tariff and internal tax laws. I re*j 
commend_ that all taxes from internal sources be abolished, except those collected; 
froin spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors, tobacco in its various forms, and from" 
stamps. 

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENT. 

Among the subjects upon which the President has given no uncertain sound is the 
gradual resumption of specie payment, and he particularly regrets the demoraliza-' 
tion caused by a fluctuating currency ; 

Among the evils growing out of the rebellion is that of an irredeemable currency. 
It is an evil which I hope will receive your most earnest attention. It is a duty, and one 
of the highest duties of Government, to secure to the citizen a medium of exchange of, 
fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a specie basis, and no substitute' 
for it can be devised._ It should be commenced now and reached at the earliest prac-; 
ticable moment consistent with a fair regard to the interests of the debtor class. I 
earnestly recommend to you, then, such legislation as will insure a gradual return tO' 
specie payments and put an immediate stop to fluctuations in the value of currency. 
The_ approach to a specie basis is very gratifying, but the fact cannot be denied that 
the instability of the value of our currency is prejudicial to our prosperity, and tends' 
to_ keep up prices to the detriment of trade. The evils of a depreciated and fluctu- 
ating currency are so great that now, when the premium on gold has iallen so much, 
it would seem that the time has arrived when, by wise and prudent legislation, Con- 
gress should look to a policy which would place our currency at i^ar with gold at no 
distant day. Continued fluctuations in the value of gold, as compared with the na- 
tional currency, has a most damaging effect upon the increase and development of 
the country in keeping up prices of all articles necessary in every-day life. It fosters 
a spirit of gambling prejudicial alike to national morals and the national finances. 
If the question can be met, as to how to give a fixed value to our currency, that value 
constantly and uniformly approaching par with specie, a very desirable object will be 
gained. 

OUn IvELATIOXS WITH GERMANY. 

Since special efforts have been made to create the impression that the Administra- 
tion was hostile to Germany in the late war, and did not observe a friendly neutrality, 
we inse'rt the following narration of facts, which prove that Germany reposed in the 
United States the greatest confidence which one nation can repose in another — the 
protection of its citizens : 

Soon after the existing war broke out in Europe the protection of the United States 
minister in Paris was invoked in favor of North Germans domiciled in French terri- 
tory. Instructions were issued to grant the protection. This has been followed by 
an extension of American protection to citizens of Saxony, Hesse, and Saxe-Coburg, 
Gotha, Colombia, Portugal, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Chili, 
Paraguay, and Venezuela, in Paris. The charge was an onerous one, requiring con- 
stant and severe labor, as well as the exercise of patience, prudence, and good judg- 
ment. It has been performed to the entire satisfaction of this Government, and, as I 
am officially informed, equally so to the satisfaction of the Government of North 
Germany.- 



The resumption of diplomatic relations between France and Germany have enabled' 
me to guHi^e'tionsfo? the withdrawal of the l-«tect-n extended to G^^^^^^^^^ 
France by the diplomatic and consular representatives of the L mted btateo m that 
country^^ It is ju^st to add that the delicate duty of this protection has been performed 
bv tWiinister and the consul general at Paris, and the various consuls m France 
under^irsu Srvi^ion of the latter, with great kindness as well as with prudence and 
tect ThJr Surse has received the commendation of the German Government, and 

'''iu:'SS^Z::^7iflL^^^^^J continues to manifest a friendlv feel- 
in. towarrt™e United States, and a desire to harmonize ^^f^tirf^^t^'f, if^ 
policy which this Governmen^siaintams in its relations with ^^latic Pow.r;. ^ J|/^ 
as with the South American Republics. I have given assurances tha. the lue.aly 
feelings of that Government are fully shared oy the Umtect biaies. 

orR FOREIGN TOLICT. 

To aid in the establishment of free Governments in every part of the globe by our 
example and Eoral influence, without meddlesome interference, is laid down as the 
proper conduct to be pursued : ^ 

As the United States i^th^fVe^tof^n^ " Sf^^^S^ J^^ 

fi!& 1^^ S t^w "Sd S^ from enforcing our vi.ws upon unwillmg 
^Ln't'ndi^omtahinz an interested ^^vt, withovi inntatwn^n the quarrels be- 
?ween different nations or between Governments and their subjepts 

''ttJS'as I learned that a RepuWic ^-^ ^^^en proclaimed^aris -^^ 

proper subject for ^'-^'^fjf-!f;;-J^^^^^^ our gi^iDler forms of representative govern- 
in attaching the hearts of the Lrencn to o^^ u^ j ,,eople. While we make 
ment, it will be a sub ect of still furcher f^'^f^f^ °,f^^? ^^^^^fj^^Jeo^ntries, and while 
BO effort to impose ov^r nstitutrons upon tne imi^^^^^^^ ^l^ewherer-e cannot be in- 
we adhere to our traditional neutrality \ncivil congest, ei ewa. ^ civilized 
different to the spread of American political ideas m a g.eai ana nig , 
country like France. ^^^ ^^^^^^ doctrine. 

The Monroe Doctrine is fully sustained. European colonies upon the American 
continent are no longer considered transferable from one Power to another, .nd t.eir 
independence is insisted upon whenever the colonial relations cease . 

The time is not probably far .ftant when m the ntl -urse of eventj^the 
European political connection with ths continent wUce^s^.^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 

shaped, in view of this P^^ability, so as to ally tne corn ^United States 

Spanish American States more ^^f^ly to our own and thus give ^^^ ^^^ 

all the pre-eminence and all the ^^^^JJ^^^f - ^^^'^^t^^bongress of Panama. 
Clay'contemplated when they proposed to jomin the ^ong^^^ ^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^^^ 

These colonial dependencies ^re no longe. regar^^^^^^^ 

one European Power to -f ^^ J^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and of self-control 

Tt^e SrminSo? thli^Se ^o^StLn^nd relation .ith other Powers. 

THE LAND GRANT POLICY. 

national domain must be preserved for the settler : 



10 

those States in opening canals to connect tlie waters of the Wabash with those of Lake 
Erie, and the waters of the Illinois with those of Lake Michigan. It was followeci, 
with some modifications, in the grant to Illinois of alternate sections of public land 
within certain limits of the Illinois Central Railway. Fourteen States and sunary 
corporations have received similar subsidies in connection with railways completed 
or in process of construction. As the reserved sections are rated at the double mini-; 
mum, the sale of them at the enhanced price has thus, in many instances, indemnified 
the Treasury for the granted lands. The construction of some of these thoroughfares: 
has undoubtedly given a vigorous impulse to the development of our resources and the 
settlement of the more distant portions of the country. It may, however, be well in- 
sisted that much of our legislation in this regard has been characterized by indis- 
criminate and profuse liberality. The United States should not loan their credit in 
aid of any enterprise undertaken by States or corporations, nor grant lands in any 
instance, unless the projected work is of acknowledged national importance. 

AMNESTY AXD RECOXSTRrCTION. 

Upon the question of amnesty and reconstruction, the President ia as liberal as. 
the utmost self-styled ''Liberal Republican" could desire. This exposes the shal-. 
low pretest of -the disorganizers, who pretend to be dissatisfied with the President's 
course upon this question : 

More than six years having elapsed since the last hostile gun was fired between 
the armies then arrayed against each other— one for the perpetuation, the other for 
the destruction, of the Union— it may well be considered whether it is not now tima 
that the disabilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment should be removed. That; 
amendment does not exclude the ballot, but only imposes the disability to hold 
offices upon certain classes. When the purity of the ballot is secure, majorities are 
sure to elect officers reflecting the views of the majority. I do not see the advantage 
or propriety of excluding men from office merely because they were, before the 
rebellion, of standing and character sufficient to be elected to positions requiring 
them to take oaths to support the Constitution, and admitting to eligibility those 
entertaining precisely the same views, but of less standing in their communities. It 
may be said that the former violated an oath, while the latter did not. The latter 
did not have it in their power to do so. If they had taken this oath it cannot be 
doubted they would have broken it as did the former class. If there are any great 
criminals, distinguished above all others for the part they took in opposition to the 
Government, they might, in the judgment of Congress, be excluded from such au 
amnesty. This subject is submitted for your careful consideration. 

The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic 
citizens would like to see. Social ostracism for opinion's sake, personal violence 
or threats towards persons entertaining political views opposed to those entertained 
by the majority of the old citizens, prevent immigration and the flow of much- 
needed capital into the States lately in rebellion. It will be a happy condition of 
the country when the old citizens of these States will take an interest in public 
afiairs, promulgate ideas honestly entertained, vote for men representing their views, 
and tolerate the same freedom of expression and ballot in those entertaining different 
political convictions. 

POLYGAMY — ITS ABROGATIOX DEMANDED. 

The President insists upon the speedy extinction of polygamy in Utah., and exposes 
in a few words the shallow pretext of the Mormons in considering it a religious rite : 

In Utah there still remains a remnant of barbarism, repugnant to civilization, to 
decency, and to the laws of the United States. Territorial officers, however, have 
been found who are willing to perform their duty in a spirit of equity and with a due 
sense of the necessity of sustaining the majesty of the law. _ Neither polygamy nor 
any other violation of existing statutes will be permitted within the territory of the 
United States. It is not with the religion of the self-styled Saints that we are now 
dealing, but with their practices. They will be protected in the worship of God, ac- 
cording to the dictates of their consciences, but they will not be permitted to violate 
the laws under the cloak of religion. 



11 



A KATIOXAL POSTAL TELEGRAPH SYSTEM. 

Tbe abolition of the telegraph monopoly, which has made the telegraph, which 
ought to be a5 freely used as the mail?, inaccessible to the general pnblic, by its ex. 
orbitant prices, is earnestly recommended : 

The suggestion of the Postmaster General for improvements in the Department 
presided over by him are earnestly recommended to your special^ attention. Espe- 
cially do I recommend favorable consideration for the plan for uniting the telegraphic 
system of the United States with ths postal system. It is believed by such a course 
the cost of telegraphing could be much reduced, and the service as well, if not better, 
rendered. It M-ou!d secure the further advantage of extending the telegraph through 
t)ortion3 of the country where private enterprise will not construct it. Commerce, 
trade, and, above all, the efforts to bring a people widely separated into a community 
of interest, are always benefited by a rapid intercommunication. Eaucafion, the 
ground-work of republican institutions, is encouraged by increasing the iacilities to 
gather speedy news from all parts of the country. The desire to reap the beneht ct 
such iiuprovemonts will stimulate education. 

CIVIL SERVICE KEF0r>M. 

V\'c insert copious eritracts from the President's message upon this subject, not only 
on account of its intrinsic merits, but because the impression is held out that the 
President is not so earnestly in favor of "all practical reforms," as heprofesse's to be. 
No one can read these paragraphs, with a desire to discern the truth, but must come 
to the conclusion that the President has thought earnestly and frequently upon this 
theme. No man can go beyond him in this respect, for all his acts prove that if he 
desires anything more than ail others it is to render his administration a success by 
the cstablishmsnt of a model civil service. In his three messages' the same senti- 
ments are repeated with an earnestness that leaves no room for doubt. Only those 
who are go blinded by disappointment and prejudice that they accuse him of dishon- 
esty and deception, can for a moment believe that he will not give any practical 
scheme of civil service reform a fair trial : 

The subjee!, of comnensation to the Heads of Bureaus and officials holding positions 
of resnonsibillty, and' recfuiring ability and character to fill properly, is one to which 
your attention is invited. But few of the officials receive a compensation equal to 
the respectable support of a family, while their duties are such as to involve millions 
of interest. In private life services demand compensation equal to the services ren- 
dered. A wise economy would dictate the same rule in the Government service. 
The present laws for collecting revenue pay collectors of customs small salaries, but 
provide for moieties (shares in ail seizures) which at principal ports of entry par- 
ticularly, raise the compensation of those officials to a large sum. It has always 
Eeemed to me as if this system must, at times, work perniciously. It holds out £;n 
inducement to dishonest men, should such get possession of those o&ces, to be lax 
in their scrutiny of goods entered to enable them finally to make large seizures. 
Your attention'is respectfully invited to this subject. 

efficient 




e^ 

litical results were likely 

against remonstrances wholly political. 

Always favoring practical reforms, I respectfully call your attention lo one abuse 
of lon<- standine, which I would like to see remedied by this Congress. It is a reform 
in the civil service of the country. I would have it go beyond the rnere fixing ot tne 
tenure of office of clerks and employees, who do not require "the advice and consent 
of the Sen-te" to make their appointments complete. I would have it govern, not 
the tenure, but the manner of making all appointments. There is no duty which so 
much embarrasses the Esecutive and Heads of Departments as that of appointments ; 
nor is there any such arduous and thankless labor imposed on Senators and i,*epre- 
seutatives as that of finding olaces for constituents. The present system dijes aot 



12 

secure the best men, and often not fit men, for public place. The elevation and 
purification of the civil service of the Government will be hailed with approval by 
the whole people of the United States. 

It has been the aim of the Administration to enforce honesty and efficiency in all 
public offices. Every public servant who has violated the trust placed in him has 
been proceeded against with all the rigor of the law. If bad men have secured places 
it has been the fault of the system established by law and custom for making appoint- 
ments, or the fault of those who recommend for Government positions persons not 
sufficiently well known to them personally, or who give letters indorsing the charac- 
ters of office-seekers without a proper sense of the grave responsibility which such a. 
course devolves upon them. A civil service reform which can correct this abuse is 
much desired. In mercantile pursuit, the business-man who gives a letter of recom- 
mendation to a friend, to enable him to obtain credit from a stranger, is regarded as 
morally responsible for the integrity of his friend, and his ability to meet his obliga- 
tions. A reformatory law which would enforce this principle against all indorsers of 
persons for public place would insure great caution in making recommendations. A 
salutary lesson has been taught the careless and the dishonest public servant in the 
great number of prosecutions and convictions of the last two years. 
= It is gratifying to notice the favorable change which is taking place throughout the 
country in bringing to punishment those who have proven recreant to the trusts con- 
fided to them, and in elevating to public office none but those who possess the confi- 
dence of the lioneet and the virtuous, who, it will always be found, comprise the 
majority of the community in which they live. 

THE EXECUTIVE POLICY. 

We now come to his definition of the real scope of Executive policy. This 
"summing up" of Presidential duties and responsibilities is so excellent that com- 
ments are superfluous : 

On my assuming the responsible duties of Chief Magistrate of the United States, 
it was with the conviction that three things were essential to its peace, prosperity, 
and fullest development. First among these, is strict integrity in fulfilling all our 
obligations. Second^ to secure protection to the person and property of the citizen 
of the United States, in each and every portion of our common country, wherever 
lie may choose to move, without reference to original nationality, religion, color, or 
polities, demanding of him only obedience to the laws and proper respect for the 
rights of others. Third, union of all the States — with equal rights— indestructible 
by any constitutional means. 

In conclusion, I would sum up the policy of the Administration to be a thorough 
enforcemez:t of every law ; a faithful collection of every tax provided for; economy in 
the disbursement of the same; a prompt payment of every debt of the_ nation ; a re- 
duction of taxes as rapidly as the requirements of the country will admit ; reductions 
of taxation and tariff, to be so arranged as to afford the greatest relief to the greatest 
number ; honest and fair dealings with all other peoples, fo the end that war, with 
all its blighting consequences, maj^ be avoided, but without surrendering any right 
or obligation due to us ; a reform in the treatment of Indians, and in the whole civil 
Bervice of the country ; and, finally, in securing a pure, untrammeled ballot, where 
every man entitled to cast a vote may do so, just once, at each election, without 
fear, or molestation, or proscription on account of his political faith, nativity, or 
color. 

The President hfis now spoken for himself, and we submit the case without com- 
ment to the discriminating judgment of an enlightened and conscientious people, with, 
the sincere conviction that the more extensively this record is circulated, read, and 
commented upon, the largor.will be his majority in November next. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THE WORK 
INGMAN'S FRIEND. 



[ntrodcctort— The object of political 

PAJITIE3. 

No. 1. 

Id a Republican Government, political parties 
are espential State maciiinerv, without which 
tiiorc wonld b*^ political stasnation ; hnt while 
we recotmize thie fact, we inust also remember 
that parties are only means, not ends. They 
are instruments solely for the enforcement of 
principles, ideas, and policies for the benefit of 
the entire nation ; and as it is an axiom that 
frnth alone is immortal, ever triumphant, and 
conqnerme error ; only that political party 
which adapts itself to tlie progressive spirit of 
the atre, and seel^s the promotion of the perma- 
nent and universal welfare ot the people, will be 
end urine, ana honored with their confidence 
and support. And whenever any jiarty ceases 
to be in ha'-ranny with the reformatory and 
ptoKresf-ive tendencv of the times, it ceases to 
be the representative of the majority, which 
alone confers upon it eflBcacjr and governmi; 
power. 
The vital advantage of free government. 

The benefits and blessings of a Republican 
governmeut, which guarantees to every citizen 
an equal voice in tlie management of affairs, 
consist not chiefly in the 'act that the Republic 
irives irreater security to lite and piopertv than 
the Monarchy; that it is more economical; 
that its civil service is ot greater efflcieucy, or 
that it commits fewer errors of public policy. 
The chief value ol a Republic consists in the 
immense spiritual distance and personal caoa- 
bllity of a self-eoveining citizen and a governed 
subject. The consciousness of power, and con- 
sequent selt-resjiect, tha practical acceptaUou 
of the fact that every man, no matter what his 
circumstances in life or his vocation, is equally a 
ruler and part of the trovernintr power, and that 
government is not above^ but of him, are the 
chief advantaees which a republican State pre- 
sents. It le in these energizing and beueficient 
influences upon the growth of personal charac- 
ter, wherein is manifested the infinite superiority 
of republican over monarchical institutions, 
before which all minor considerations of rela- 
tive economy and efficiency dwindle into iaeig- 
nificance. 
Good ck>vibnmsnt sssENxuii to human haf- 

PINE38. 

Twenty-two centuries ago, Solon, the great 
law-giver of the Athenians, and the wisest man 
of bis age, in describing the happiest man whom 
be ever knew, placed foremost as the first es- 
eeotial condition of that happiness, that he 
"lived in Greece, a well ordered btate." 

The air we breathe, the water we drink, and 
the genial sunshine that bathes us, are not the 
less essential or vital to life because ttiey are so 
abundant that we take no notice, and even ne- 
glect to thank a beneflcient Providence which 
has so fully adapted them to our needs. And 
to this great republic, security of life and prop- 
erty, an untrammelled press, a free religion, 
freedom to change one's occupation and to 
Mpire to agv office witliia the gift of tb« people. 



are principles of so universal recognition, that 
we do not fully appreciate these essential and 
vital conditious to a happy and well developed 
life ; nor are we sufficiently grateful and at- 
tached to our government which alone guaran- 
tees them. We should never lorset that this ia 
the only ffreat and well-ordered republican 
State in the world ; that everywhere else we 
have either despotisms, absolute or qualified, 
or nominal republics tempered with anarchy 
and civil wars. 

The duties we owe to the govebkment. 

To ensure the permanency of this maenlfi- 
cent and ineslimat)le inheritance, we owe it 
more than our vote and pecuniary support ; we 
owe it our highest thought, constant viellanoe, 
and zealous co-operation. Not only in time of 
war has the -government a right to command 
our lives and fortunes, but in time of peace it 
has the right to demand our most profound 
thoutrht and watchful 6are. 

The Republican party maini.t composed 
OK workinomen. 

The great majority of the people of the 
United States, who are toilers with brain and 
hand, are particularly interested in the main- 
tainence of our government. The Republican 
party, under whose leadership the government 
is now moving, is composed almost exclusively 
of laboring men ; in the North and West, its 
stronghold is among the farmers and the me- 
chanics of Ibe villages, and in the South its most 
enthusiastic supporters are the recently emanci- 
pated slaves. Thus tne separate interests of the 
workingmen are safe in its keepiner; for while we 
have an abundant number ol laborers we have, 
thank God, no laboring class — no hereditaiy 
caste. Men may be engaged either in physical 
or mental labors, or in any particular branch 
thereof, during their whole life, but it is entirely 
voluntary, and many of them change from one 
to the other as it may to them seem best. 

There is no permanent laboring class. 

The assumption that there is a laboring class, 
or interior caste, bavins separate and antago- 
nistic interests, which descends from father to 
son, and from which no one can rise or change 
is a monarchical idea, imported from abroad 
and inapplicable to our country. And to pre- 
vent the formation of a permanent laboring 
class, as distinguished from a professional or a 
capitalist class, ought to be the object of earnest 
solicitude with every American statesman and. 
thinker. 

No natural antagonism between labor ahd 
capital. 
For the purpose of convenient distinction, and 
not because there exists such an absolute line of 
demarkation in real life, we may assume that 
there are three distinct stages of capital in the 
United States: the capital of physical labor; 
the capital of mental labor, and the capital ot 
accumulated or capitalized labor. Between 
these three classes of capitalists there is no 
natural or necessary antagonism. All of them 
are interested in the security of life and prop- 
erty, in the euforcement of coatractcu in Van 



€ 



.W- 



2^ 



•s^.^ 
*«»' 



^■• 



. freedom of mnkins contracts ; In the complete 
liberty of chantring vocaliqn and inveslmeats, 
in general eclucaiion, and ihe peacLfnl and econ- 
omical administration of publ c allair^. The 
capitali.-t of phv.Mcal labor lias for sale his day's 
■woik; the c;ipitaii.-l of mental lubcr his pro- 
f2f»sional siiiil, and the capituhst of reserved 
i;ibnr the accumulation which either he or his 
tnccstors have acquired. Sometimes the one 
andpomftjcnostheothei of these classes receives 
the hiahest fliare of reward. It frequently hap- 
pens in our Western territories, or in our mining 
districts, that physical labor is in fo great de- 
mand tliat lawyers and doctors engage side by 
•Ide with ordinary laiiorers in physical worit, 
bocaufo it brings by farllie higliest reward. At 
other times flic capital represented by physical 
labor Is 60 abundant, and the reserved and ac- 
cumulated capital is in such great demand that 
!t rvwlvcs the lion's share ol the reward- 
Statement op the labor problem. 
The main question, which an inquiry Into 
the labor problem suggests, is two (old : First, 
how can the capitalist ot a day's labor, com- 

f)rlning as it does th*' largest class of our popu- 
atlon, receive in exchange the greatest amount 
01 comfort, and the greatest sliare of profit. 
Secondly, how can he rise nsost easily and 
El»eedily to tlie condiiion of a capitalist of re- 
served labor, or a capitalist of skillful mental 
acquirements. 

'i hese questions are of the moat vital import- 
ance 10 file progress of the woild. They are so 
profound and interwoven with the fabric of so- 
ciety, tliattliey require tlie most earnest, con- 
BCleuiious, pains-taliing. impartial, and non- 
partizan investigation. They cannot be solved 
oj the cheat) rhetoric of tlie political agitator, 
nor by intuition, nor by the unlettered and 
onluiored auggestions of auy class, loolciug 
upon them from a partial- standpoint. And If 
the words of counsel which we are about to 
present to our fellow laljorers do not clear 
•way all the difllcultles surrouuding the subject , 
wo kuow, at least, that, our suggestions are the 
reeult, both of earnest taought, and of a sincere 
dc£ire to Uvel up OUT physical laborers without 
levelling down any olhf r class. Elevate, edu- 
cate, make moral and free, the basis of society, 
mod not only is the safety of the State ensured, 
bat all other classes will t;e prosperous aod 
coBteated. 

THE REPUDLICAN PARTY THE WORK 

INQMAN'S FRIEND, 

No. 2, 

FowTiCAi^ Personal and Associated action . 

To lift op the masses of men to a higher 

ftandpolnt of moral aud mental excellence, to 
mpart to them greater skill, greater produc- 
tive power , greater sclfrespect and higher con- 
scientious motives, are the only means of a per- 
maneut cure of poverty, crime and discontent. 
This can be accomplished by three-lold action 
FoUtical, Personal and Associated. 

pRorsR Political Action. 
Political action can only tend incidentally to 
tbU object. The worki^gmen, like all good 
eitizeup, ouglit to ally themselves with that 
^arty, wbose hiRiory furnishes the most com- 
plete (ruarautecs of beneflcient progress. If 
the workiugmen of the United Stales have any 
epeclUc reforms to propose, they muetflrct pre- 
(Jtai Utem al Ike bfti oi pabUa oaiaion. where 



all political eanses are tried, and then endeavor 
to have thorn incorporated in the platform ot 
tne dominant political party; for in tiuit way 
tlicy will bo moat sperdilv converted into tho 
law of the land. It then the Ucpuijlican paity 
has given evidence that ii is ready to adopt atl 
princii'iea and ideas wli ch the pupuiar ccn- 
science approves and make ttiem u part of its 
platform, snrelv the worklngman, as Ruch, has 
no occasion flrf=t to tear down th^t political 
party and establiph a new one, for the niirpo?o 
of accomplishing his objocts. Common eonee 
clearly indicates that it is much easier to engraft 
any popular princinle into ttic platform of the 
dominant party wbich has the powor to carrv it 
out, than first to popularize a princiiile, which 
must bo done at aJl event?, and then tear down 
the party and substitute a new and special p-irty 
in its place. It may be strongly suspected, 
therefore, that those who advocate tlie pro 
priety of securing special ierislation for the 
working man by tlie formation of a new party, 
are using this only as a pretext to bring tlie 
Democratic party into power, and for the par- 
pose of obtaining pelf, places, and power for 
themselves. 

In BO far then as the workingraan needs 
speci»i legislation, he can obtain it, after due 
discussion, from the Republican party, which 
has a history ttiat incontrovertibly shows that 
it has been, for the last ten jears, the one, real, 
practical friend of the workiogmao, making no 
distinction on account of race or color. 

Uistort ot the Workinoman's Movemext. 
What has given to the modern labor move- 
ment its strength and consideration? What 
lias given an impulse to the elevation and dig- 
niflcatiou of labor throughout the whole world, 
except the abolition of involuntary labor in the 
United States? 

During the forty years' reign of the Demo- 
cratic party, several millions of workingmen 
and women and their offspring were bought 
and sold, like the cattle of the field, and 
dedicated to the Infernal tnoloch of American 
Slavery. American workingmen were prevented 
by cruel and outrageous laws from learning to 
read and write, and, conaequeutly, to think. 
Ttiey were prevented both by laws and pubilo 
opinion from leaving the class of physical la- 
borers to enter the professiona or to become 
their own employers. 

The Reoublican oarty, eeekingthe emancipa- 
tion of this oppressed class, through good and 
evil report, and after year« ot struggle and 
obloquy, succeeded in arousing the pubic con- 
science to demand the abolition of involuntary 
servitude. The Republican party insisted that 
voluntary labor, secured by voluntary and 
equitable contracts, should bie substituted for 
involuntary and hereditaiv slavt^ry. The 
party has done more than this. It has over- 
come successfully, with the «id of the nation^ 
a glgautlc civil war. Under Its leadership 
several hundred thousand Uien sacriticed thoir 
^ lives in behalf of that grand principle. Luat in- 
Toiaatacy servitude sliaU be forever ^boliBhed, 

EonCATION AND EKTRAtCCniSEMENT. 

The enormous debt which now rests upon 
the nation, and which is an mcubus upon every 
man's energies, was caused t>y the iau: gigantic 
rebellion, xhese rebels were all I'emocrata. 
There were no Reputilicank In the ret>eliion. 
And aiACfi tlut Ume ever; meana caiculAied to 



bcDPflt thfB c^nsB Of TKXJT eroanclTrntefl laborers 
ha« iif'T rn-i5t'.'c3 w:U) iufolcnee and maHsnlty. 
Ilic K'l Klnj oiilragcs to-day arc nothing 
mori- ihiin ilio sail)" maliimancy on tlie part of 
the l.im|-ho)()iT8 PL'ains'. tlieir lormer 8laTC8, 
trying' Ijj iniiiuidalion to nave them giibmit to 
tlirir jMLTinii!. domination, cneatmg them out 
of their vvaircs. and -edncinsr. Ihcra to their for- 
mer slate of iiDjcr'. dcnendence, thoueli they 
cannot rc-('eiai)li?li dlavc^y in name. 

Tlie Ke])iii)l:car party lias made the very 
name oi njlon-j a j 'jiiular catch-word — «o that 

fiscudo relormTs flru proclamini; their !>llly re- 
orin no^lriiinf Ilk-- patent mcilicine dealers, on 
every gtiiinp. Unt'l the Repn'ilican party made 
"leonn'' popmar, conservatism and coneerva- 
Uvc uoblruinf wer" (he order of the day. 

TDC llOMESTBAD LAWS. 

The record Fiiowi,and it is a dark and damn- 
Intr iccQid, lli.Ti tli-f only veto which President 
Biichiinan Ijad th-' courarc to muster, was 
hmled atrninat the liOmestead Bill, which en- 
acted thai the puh'ic domain shall bo set apart 
lor lire Usc ol ihe actual settlers. It supcr- 
tccdcd ihe issue of land warrants, which could 
be bouj,'lil up t>y capilalisls, and located in laru'e 
bodies, thus prevrnlinLj the worUiiiaman from 
KuiuiiiL' a linmi' upon the nalional-doinaiii, ex- 
Cei't on u.-nr ous :ipd difuilvantatrcous terms. 
It was I lie Kepublieau party that in llio v^ry 
flr>i ye.ir ul ii.» i)ower, enacted the lloinestcad 
Bill into a law, and has ufiLeld its pruvisions 
ever s-mee. Tl:e memory ol the American peo- 
ple iiiu-i l)c cliort, indeed, i( Ihcv do not recol- 
lect 'hilt III!' llijiiie.-lead policy was denounced 
by iLc Deinocimic press, as UDCOD&UtuUoual, 
»K;.'rariaii aud revolutionary. 

£Spi;axcuisement of the rnwnvvs. 
The l{epuljl:eiin party, not salislied with the 
fiere eniiineiniilion of the Southern working- 
nun, eiilraueliibed them, and conferred upon 
them the lieedipau's weapon— the ballot— so 
tl.at I'ley iniL'lu he able to maintain their poli- 
tical and pertonal ri;;h(6 0l voluntary labor and 
01 Slate t.ducuLiuu, a};aiu6t tbe as&aulla of titcir 
eoeujies. 

TnE Fkredma^'s Bureau. 
The RepuMitan parly did more than that. 
It favv that these people were too poor to main- 
tain voliiiitary tichuols. It saw thai the public 
eciitiinenl in the lorincr slave States was totally 
otniosen to i^iviiitr ill em an education or to es- 
tabji.-li ecuniiion schools of any Hud. The 
South never had dceciu schouU belore eraanci- 
pa; ion, ai'd deteriniued not to have any lor the 
Q.-e Ol the Ireedmeu. Therefo'-e the Ireeilmen'e 
-■ bcreaii was iiiftiiuieii, ^hiLMl lor several years 
_. Ul ilertcnyK lo efttablish sehoule under national 
*^ ail I'ices, free alike lo the children of all 
T^ cla.-.feb ; and il tlie freedmen proljled most 
j4 liiiiiely by these national Bchouls, il was be- 
cuu.-e the white worKin^rniau Lad sunk so low 
as to lie unable to appreciate the advaulafjes 
ami blessiuirs ol eiliie:iiioii. 
<5^ llie Uepuhliean paity made, moreover, a sol- 
emn coiii| act beHire readimlliuji the late rebel- 
/iiiue States into the Umou, that they bhould 
uiaintaiu, hereuller, public schools open to all, 
which could only inure lo the beuclit ol tlie 
Rorkinmiieu, both black aud while 

TUE I'l KITT OK TUB IULLOT BOI. 

The lleputjliean ('arty lias enacted a law to 

f)roleel eai-U aiul every man in eaaliuii his bal- 
01, to preveul bAilol-btuiiiu;^ bj UiiWorUij 



iD^B, to KTJarautw to e&cb swfl ctotv wrtrWflS* 
man hi? absolute sovereienfy ; and to secure to 
him his ciiual influence, which is endan^^red by 
the corriiptinir power of weaUh, wichW-l by 
monopolies and consolidated capital. But In 
every staije, in every turn, no matter what 
beneflcient provisions were proposed, the Hc- 
pnblican party has encountered the virnb-nt 
and deadly Hostility ol the Domocralic leaders 
and press. And even to-day, in the recent ad- 
dress which was pulilislie.d bv tiiem, si'/mul by 
fourteen United i^tates Sena'ors, and ninety- 
three Democratic Repre^^entaiives, wti deiy irny 
one to find one siucle irenerous sentiim.-M. the 
proposal of a sin'zle siiecific measure of reform, 
a ginile line exjiresi-in!.' in eniion to benefit, 
either the working man, or the country at larirn, 
or ns let'dinu to augment the glorv und bcmor 
of llie Nation, eitlicral home or abrond. Ills 
the same svstem ol fault-(indin<^, of pullin? 
down, of beliltleing, of every true conscien- 
tious and philanthropic man that lias nndba- 
vered to promote the progress of our country. 
\v liencver our Government has endeavored 
to protect the weak and poor in their riirhts, 
the Democratic parly has exhausted the vo* 
cabularv of ournbrious terras, in denouncia- 
tion of the Uepuhliean |)arty. Surely the work, 
inir-mcn of the United States a'-c loo iniellf- 
cent to lie mi-led by l!:is tierce denunciation 
of mcnsurcp, wh ch experience and time have 
proved of benefit alike to Ihe national large, 
and particuliiriy to the poor men of.inteKrily, 
and mlerestcd in an honest goverumcnt. 

Land Grants to Railkoads. 

It is true Ijrire quiintities of public lands 
have been granted to Railroad Companies, and 
the time lias come when this system ol d:s»- 
posing of the public dom;rm mu-lstop. Some 
ol the laud grants were not made judiciously, 
and the tciuptalion lo Congicssiona' corrup- 
tion is very trrenl.. Yet the land uranls given 
to the PaciDc Railways are, by no means, an 
nnmixed evil. They have rendered aceeg.>ible 
manv millions of acres of land— lost in Ihe 
American desert— which, as long as speedy 
communication was wanting, could only be 
used as hunting L'rounds. 

The Railroad Companies are greatly Inter- 
ested in emiL'ratiou ; it is ol the utmost con- 
sequence lo Ihein, to have their long and ax- 
poscd lines protected bv seillemeiiis ; and, 
llierelore, they are ollerin- Iheir lands on suen 
ea-y terms llial eiuigranis prefer them to the 
public lands further oil. A law. however, 
ou '111 to be speedily enacted, lixing the mas- 
imum piice of t.aid lands, and pieveuimg Uieir 
sale in lartrc coiiUl'Uous bodies lo biiiirle in- 
dividuals and corpuralioua. 1 am glad llmt 
public seuliiiieiit has l)een aroused upon thia 
(Tueslion, und that the workingnieu aud people 
Generally, wdl visit with political danm.ii.ou 
Ihe politician who lavors Ihe sipiandcnnL' of 
ii.e nublic domain. Tue RepuUiieau party 
and D -ess are lully commiUed aL'auisi lurlUer 
luuil grams on the terms hilherioo made. 
Tub Eiout llouit Law. 

»♦ ihp, demand of lue worKiiitimen. and as 
. * li mal ciample. the Kepubliean parly en- 
I wi iri. o ■' all PuWic woi ka, eighl Hours shall 
" ^^ ;u^'a\lay's worli. This is auoUier evl- 
'i'''". I1..1 Un- party has been aui.ous lo se- 
.':;re"ll!;'^\ull«e •- -^ cu-op«raUou of m, 
acluMU. 



4 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THE -WORK- 
INGMAN'S FRIEND. . 
No. 3. 

EOONOMT ARD EDUCATION. 

^orkinsrmen must, however, act individually 
for the attainment c* prosperity. So that con- 
tracts are enforced ; bo tiiat life and property 
are secure ; so that every youne man Is freely 
permitted to learn any trade, or enter any voca- 
tion he pleases, and every man is allowed to 
change that vocation at will; bo that no law is 
made which takes more from than thev ought 
to pay; so that it provides them with a com- 
plete and free system of education — taking the 
child from the primary school and advancing 
Mm to the grammer and high school, and finally 
sending him to the University without any 
charge of tution ; the State has done all that it 
ought to do as an orsranized corporation. 

The individual workmen must observe tem- 

Serance, industry, enerary and persistence, 
abits of study and careful observation, espec- 
ially in the way of making the mechanical arts 
and occupations more esteemed. 

EOONOMT IS OF THE HIGHEST VALUH. 

Is there anything in the conditious, circum- 
Btances, or laws of the United StateR that will 
prevent any of your boys from becoming inde-- 
pendent and have an accumulated capital of at 
least $10,000 wuen forty years of age ? I take 
the following illustration from a recent number 
of the Dubuque Times, of what immense results 
the savings of thirty cents per day will accom- 
plish : 

How BOTS MAT BBOOME RiCH. 

In Dubuqtjb there are one thousand boys on 
the threshold of manhood and business life, 
possessing sufficient education for ordinary 
business purposes, and who feel sure that if 
they only had the capital with which to embark 
in business, they might, in the course of an ordi- 
nary lifetime, acquire an independence, if not 
great wealth. Of these one thousand boys, a 
large portion ol those who remain alive until 
they arrive at old age will then find themselves 
seedy, penuiless and wretched — or but a single 
step above this condition, struggling for a 
meager subsistence, by hard day's works de- 
pendent upon some capitalist for the emplov- 
ment whereby ttieyearu their bread. And then, 
in looking back over the past, and questioning 
with themselves why their lives should have 
been such a failure, they will declare, and, per- 
haps, actually believe, that "luck was against 
them;" that they were ob'i.ifed fo begin life 
tjyithout capital, and ne' sr lound an opportunity 
to acquire capital, to serve as a foundation for 
a fortune. We r* .'pcae to examine into the 
validity of this plea. 

The majority of tV"^8e young men, in imita- 
tion of the habit/ .>» f^e best society, make use 
of tobacco in the .-Mt^ of cigars. Some smoke 
rarely, but are select in their taste, and use only 
the better kinds of cigars ; say, three a day at 
ten cents each. Others — and by far the greater 
number— average six cigars a day, at (we will 
say) five cents each. Thirty cents a day for 
cigars or tobacco in some shape Is a very 
moderate allowance for an ordinary habitual 
smoker. This amounts to (80x365) $109.50 a 
y«ar. In the course of the year, by purchas- 
iog at wholesale, the individual may make a 
Mvlof; of tb« odd $9.50,.l«aying the even tlOO. 



as ihe arootmi expended' for iMbftCco In the 
course oi the year. 

We wlU begin with young mfln sevenleen 
years of age. Between his seventeenth and 
eiehtecnih birthday he expends $100 for cigars. 
That $100, if placed at interest at 10 per cent. 
on his eiglitecnth birthday, would, bv his nine- 
teenth birthday, amount to $110. That $110 
place,d at interest until his twentieth birthdav, 
would amount to $121. That $121 placed at 
interest until his twenty-flrst birthday, would 
amount to $133.10. By continuing the calculn 
tion, the smoker will find that the one hundred 
dollars expended during his seventeenth year, 
if Bimplv put out at interest at ten per cent., and 
reinvested annuallv— a very easy thing to do- 
by the time the Individual had arrived at a good 
hale old age, ready to "retire from business" 
and enjov life, would amount to the startling 
sum of $9,720.03. 

The amount at ten per cent interest, by the 
time the individual would be sixty -five years 
old, of $100 expended in cigars or tobacco by h 
young man in his — 

TEAR. TEAR. 

$ 211l.4?|49ch 
1916.48|.50th 



TEAR. 
IVth 

18th . 

19t,h . 

20th . 

21st . 

22d . 

23d . 

'.i4th . 

25th . 

26th . 

•27th . 

28th . 

29th . 

8t)th . 

31st . 

82d . 
Total 



$ 9750.03 

8820. OS 
. ^018. :i I 

7281*. 28 

6,,2rt.<J3 

fK)2l.l9 

5476.54 
, 4978.'..7 
, 4V26,05 
. 4114.59, 42d 
, 3740.54' 43d 



33d 

34th 

35th 

36f,h 

3<th 

:i8th 

o9th 

40th 

41st 



34(,'0.4S 
301)1.5 . 
2810.3-: 
2554. &3 



44th 
45rh 
46th 
47th 



ic322.52|4Sth 



1744.9S 

1686,34 

1443.13 

1311.05 

1191.85 

lO:^ 49 

884.99 

895.44 

M4.04 

740.03 

673.76 

611.6(J 

556.00 

505.05 



51st 

52d 

53d 

54tli 

,-)5th 

.56rh 

57th 

58 th 

.59 th 

60th 

61st 

62d 

63d 

64th 



$ 459.50 

. 417.7:^ 

. 37..'. 75 

. 218.05 

. 205.31 

. 2.50.3't 

• 2-^.5.79 

. 214.36 

. 194.81 

. 17.1.-' 

. 161. (>5 

. 14'l.4l 

, 133.1(» 

. 121.(10 

. 110.00 

. lOJ 00 
$105,395. .50 



In other words the young man who uses 
tobacco in any shape, to the value of thirty ceuls 
a day, in the course of an ordinary life-tirae, 
expends an amount, which, if instead of spend- 
ing it for tobacco, he had invested annuallv at 
tea per cent interest, would pfford him a fortune 
of over one hundred thousand dollars. 

We do not think of a word of comment that 
can add to the force of these figures. 

A PERMANENT PURPOSE IN LIFE. 

One thing above all others cannot be im- 
pressed upon both old and young with too great 
an emphasis. It is, that a definite purpose of 
life, and a conviption that what we mav produce 
with hand or brain, is for the benefit of the 
world, is essential to our happinoss. An id'e 
life leads to worthlessness, wretchedness, gam- 
bling, debauchery, and finally to tho Stntn 
prison or an early grave. It isan essential c .n- 
dition, made a law by the Creator Himseif, which 
no man can, with impunity, tramegress, tint in- 
telligent, continuous eflort to do and accom- 
plish something is essential to individual con- 
tentment. The envy, therelore, whicli som- 
times enters the heart of the wotkinginen 
against the sons of rich men whom th'-y ^ee 
loitering on the street corners, is misplaced. 
These men do not only, not enjoy the same 
degree of personal happiness and comfort, 'tut 
they are often pluuged into recklessne ss .and 
vice. Look then not to witTumt for relief, 
but fVom witbti, Among the inalien«,b!e 



Hgbte of a fT«eio«B atande prosmSnent the right 
to enter Into a contract, and the right to work 
for whom he pleases, and at ench wasas as he 
(or bimeelf may datermine. First class me- 
chanics oneht to resist the attempt of inferior 
and incompetent men to control their waees and 
hours of labor. The man who da^es not to face 
the world on his own hook — who dares not to 
take a job of work without permission of some 
"order" will always remain as poor as a church 
mouse. 
A Trade among thb Inalibnablb rights. 

A trfide or callin? is the birth-ri£;ht of every 
man and woman who chooses to follow it. To 
prohibit, by law. by usasre or by combinations, 
any person from becomms: a mechanic or artizan 
Is a crime. The assumption, that if tLere are 
but a lew men to work in a particular calling, 
doing a minimum amount of work, the price of 
that class of labor will thereby be enhanced, is 
entirely fallacious. Theie is a point at which 
consumption stops. Whenever the production 
of any article is eo costly that by doing other 
work we cannot equal it as an equivalent, other 
articles ate used in )t8 place. Thus, tor instance. 
If all the bricklayers in the Uuited States were 
to combine and char-re a hundred dollars for 
laying a thousand bricks, the consequence would 
be that brick houses would not be built, and 
brick laying avoided in every possible way. In 
fact, we are doing as much v#ork with all the 
improved machinery thut we now have — with 
steam power, railways, eteam-boats, power 
looms, &c.— in a month, than fifty years ago, 
we did in a year, yet there is more demand for 
work, a greater demand for skillful and intelli- 
gent laborers than was ever known before. The 
more industry there is in 'the land, the greater 
is the demand for workers, and the more idle- 
ness, the less capacity is there tor general em- 
ployment. 

Thb absence of Capital. 

Some agitators are trying to make the work- 
ingman believe that the paradise of the laborer 
is where there is no capital. In other words, it 
all the rich men and wealth were svepi. out of 
existence, and every man had to do his own 
work, thus being his own employer, holding 
only as muca land as he, by himself, could 
cultivate, the millenium for workingmeu would 
have come. If any of these geutlemen 
wish to try this condition of aSairs practically; 
if they wish to live in a land without capital, 
and, tnerelore, without machinery, without 
roads, without good schools, universities, 
churches, public buildings and other necessary 
institutions of high civilization ; it they wish to 
go to a land where each man raises enough for 
his own needs and packs a little surplus, where- 
with to obtain his tools, on the back of an ass 
or mule and carries it to the sea coast, let nira 
go to Santo Domingo, lor there that happy con- 
dition of society exists. There you have enough 
to eat — Und nature gives that plentifully; 
there with very little exertion, you can raise 
enough tobacco and other products to eschauge 
lor clothing ; and then you can be as happy as 
the hog that only needs In addition a mud-pud- 
dle lor complete enjoyment. The absence of 
capital, as such, is not a blessing, but a very 
great disadvantage, and, therelore, the object 
ol the phdanthropist is to show a way oy which 
every man, every laborer can become, pardy oy 
self-sacriflce, partly by higher skill and greater 
ledDcatiOB, and partly by equitable lawa, a capi- 



tftlist himeelH W« should try to conyert oo"^ 
country into a land of capitalists instead of • 
land of poverty and wretchedness. Stirely, if 
we have a consciousness of our own immor- 
tality ; if we regard this lite as only probation- 
ary—as one fitting the soul for a higher destiny, 
and greater mental and moral exertions hei eaf- 
ter, a definite purpose in life which prevents the 
rufct ol idleness and corraption from corrod- 
ing our vitahtv, ?s an essential condition both to 
our happiness here and hereafter. Thus thai 
laborer who conscientiously does his duty, edu- 
cates hie children, uisres them to enter an honest 
vocation, can be, and is the happiest man of his 
age and time. 

MEA3TJKE8 OF PERMANENT RRLIBF. 

But wiiat of the future ? Among the remedies 
most likely to develope the manhood of the 
workingmen, and aid their material develop- 
ment, the following are suirgested: 

First, The alliance of the workingmen with 
the partv of progress, humanity, law and order, 
and opposition to the party of organized villany, 
deception and fraud. It must be evident to all, 
that Tammany Hall corruption combined with 
secession hatret and Ku Klux outrages, would, 
in case of success at the next election, nation- 
alize the New York system of organized corrup- 
tion, and the rule of great corporations. Why 
is there more poverty and crime in New York 
city than any whereon the continent? It is 
because thirty -five millions of taxes are wrung 
from the producers, annually, to be in great 
part, divided among a few men of immense 
wealth like Twead and others. 

II the workingmen were to organize and to 
support the Kepublicau party, they could select 
their own men and place them upon the ticket 
for Congress in all large cities. 'The Republican 
party would gladly honor with its support some 
intelligent and patriotic artizau. Before you 
rush into the dark, and peril all you have gained, 
you had better first try what earnest co-opera- 
tion with the Republican party will do. 

Seconuly, Oruanized and powerful railway 
and other combinations mast be restrained in 
their rapacity by law. There is nothing above 
the State, aud no combination can be allowed 
to subvert the general rights of the community. 
The railways are our only practical public high- 
ways, and Congress has lu'l power' to regulate 
the charges on freight and passengers for the 
proteciion of tue public. The laws of the 
ScaiHS gave railways tne right of entry on pri- 
vate lauds, because it was held that they Were 
necessary ior commerce and inter-communica- 
tion, and this part of the compact cannot be 
auuulled by arbitrary and extortionate charges. 

Tliiidly, The Government ought to aid the 
couslruclion or construct a double track rail- 
way from St. Louiyto New York, with a few 
bianche.5 from Chicago and Cincinnati, in the 
West, and one to Botton and Baltimore in the 
East, waicn sliould be open to all persons as a 
great freight road. A uniform rate oi speed, 
and a toll sufficient to keep the road-bed in 
order, with a sitctjal code and the use of the 
telegraph are all the conditions necQesary. This 
road would regulate the Iroiahts of all others, 
and provide moreover cheap transportation for 
emigrants, and also lor catUe. 

Fourthly, Tbe Government ought to estab- 
lisii a svstem of Post Offlce Saving Banks, which 
would be of great benefit to the Government 
itself, and of still greater advantage to the peo- 
nia who baye bo bank AceonntB. There are 



'J. 



6 



ctw»tantlT at resi \n our trtdoly extendea ccran' 
try from tliree to four hnndrpd miUlonB of dol- 
lars, wliicl) nre not deposited bronnFe tliey are 
owi.ed in too ?mall Bums and ftiblpct to con- 
Btnnt usa. If Xhon the Goverpmcnt were to 
emnblisl) ti Post Qfnpc Snvincr Bank in everv 
viHairc of LOOO inlml)itant« or TipwnrdP, at which 
«11 piTFODS could mnke d^poeitsin su'ns of five 
doUnrs or more und receive interest on the eamr; 
at the rate of (onr per cent per anHiim,it wonld 
be a eiciit inducement to the yonns: to pjive 
their curninsp, aflnrd a cheap loan to the Gov- 
ernment, and also cause the payment to the 
people ol (rnra twelve lo sixteen millions of doU 
Jars per year on money that is now lying idle. 

In addition to thig hunlc, a pvstem of transfer 
drafts could i)e introduced bo that a family orai- 
prating from Boston could deposit their money 
lliere, and fake out a transfer draft, payable at 
8t Paul. This svRtem ot national paving banks 
vith traneler dralta wonld be of very sroat and 
permanent benefit to the working ciasscs. It 
is also perfectly practical, eapily managed and 
trnderstood, and very ranch liko the money 
Older Byctem. 

As soon as the National Debt is sufficiently 
diminisiicd to make the interest burden easy, 
«nd ihe niiichinery ot the Postal Government 
Saving Bnnkfe is perfectly established, the Gov- 
ernment niav go one step lurther, and re-loan 
the peop'e'p money at fivener cent, per annum, 
lo build up bona fide industrial enterprises, and 
more particularly, mechanlcb co-operative as- 
sociations, 

1^'t us enforce and set in motion the principles 
herein pet lorlli, and we will ha\e reached a 
Ijitther level of social and administrative in- 
fluences, upon wliicli we can rear & beautiful 
and permanent superstructure, 

Tlie liappinefs and prospority of each and 
every citizen, and not t!ie increase ol commerce 
or of production, should ho the first object of 
•ociety and of law ; and It may even be neces- 
sary lo discourage this wild and often unprin- 
cipled hunt after material riclics, now inaugu- 
rated. At all events, every real prosrress is 
achieved by long, continuous and painful strug- 
gle, and. therefore, we must not be discouraged 
because ten or twenty years are required — which 
Ju the lile of a nation are but as a single year — 
to gain acceptance for new and important 
truths. 

Filily, The Statistical Bnreau ought to be 
chariicd witli the regular collection ol facts as 
to the demand of laborers and mechanics in 
diflercnilncalilics; llie "vages paid, and the price 
ol land, produee, board, «fec. If several hun- 
dred thou-and dollars can be spent to announce 
tlie daily Biate ol the weatiier; surely this in- 
formation is of greater importance, and can be 
collected witli less expense. 

A Betteh System of Education, 

Sixlly, The majo'ily ol the American peo- 

Ele are proud ol their system of education, 
ave spent already laige sums to establish it, 
aid are willing to make even greater pecuniary 
Bticntices to enlariie it. And yet it must be 
evident to every thinker that tlie system is 
gieaily and radically deficiool. It cannot be 
expected tliat tins great question shall be here 
fully discussed, but a few suggestions are 
tiiiown out whose consideiation may, in time, 
produce good result?. 

First and foremost, we must have better and 
more highly trained teachers. Wo must make 
Uie oUico of teaciier ijato one of tbe most* It 



not Vit vaoti important prnfCTslon. Atid wWTa 
we insist on a long and arduous course of 
stiecial training, we must also adequately re* 
mnnerate the successful teacher. The system of 
hiring young women who only look to teach- 
ing as a temporary expedient, until a cliance for 
marriage occurs, is not only money wasted but 
a very greatand lasting injury inHirtcd npon the 
rising generation. Tlie cstalilifhment of semi* 
naries for teachers is an absolute and immediate 
necessity; for Plato well and truly said, "Ibat 
while seven years of silent study nre necessa-y 
to discern the truth, fourteen years are necessary 
to enable one to learn how to teach it tool hers." 

I take, moreover, the ground that what we 
call "education" is exceedingly deficient in 
compass. It does well enougli within its chan- 
nel which is exceedingiy narrow, but it does not 
pretend to educate all the laciiilies ol the hti* 
man being. The whole system consists in train- 
ing the memory so that it may retain mechani- 
cally a certain number of facts; and in sliarpeo- 
ning tlie intellectual faculties without enlargmq; 
their scope, I cannot think of one exception to 
the rule that tt.e United States liave not pro- 
duced a single man, great in any walk ol life, 
who has spent the llrst sixteen years of liis life 
in a city oi upwards of eiglity thousand inhahi- 
tante. That individuality of character which 
alone gives personal prominence is entirely 
wanting, an4 cannot be replaced by meic cul- 
ture or rtfinemcDt. Onr present system deula 
chiefly in words and trifles, which, whether re- 
membered or not, arc of very little consciiuencc. 
Grammar and spelling are very well in their 
place, but they ar9 not the cliiof end of educa- 
tion, II the man is otherwise great, he Icarus 
them in other t)Hr«uit6, and if his character is 
dwarfed his snelling is ( t very little consequence. 
The child lias various faculties, [)hysical, moral, 
mental and mechanical ; and every sysluin of 
education that docs not aflord the mcaus ot 
educating ail of these, is a laiUire. 

Our educational system ouglit to he monldcd 
upon the suggestions of Pestalozzi and Froehle. 
The child between five to eiglit 3cars of age, 
ought to liave a chance to educate its eye. hands 
fingers and limbs. Under the guise ol play, it 
ought to be taught the correct use ol the pencil, 
needle, tools, &c. It ouglit to be taught lo sing. 
to recite, to construct and to amuse itself and 
others. In fact, learning should be made, and 
it, moreover, can be made, the most pieasiug 
and entertaining portion of a child's lile. 
Propek Mouai. Instboctions, 

In our anxiety to keep out ol our public 
BClioolsall religious dogmas— that is theology or 
reasoning about God pri>per — so that Atheists, 
Deists, Jews, Protestants aid Callioliccj may 
have no conscienlious scrunles lo send their 
children, wo liave excluded all moral cultiva- 
tion and instrucLion as such. We liave exmi- 
pliflcaliond of the nrtilicial and arbitrary divi- 
sionsol the sound of every letter in tlical|)h;ibet; 
we have the most insignificant grummatical 
deviation duly noted, wo have all the ariihmeli- 
al, al!4ebrnical aud geometrical rules com- 
mitted to nicinory, but there is not a ^ingle text 
book that points out to the growi!<g ci.ild, iht 
point where deceotion, disobedience, d ssimiila- 
tioii and dishonesty begin ; orenizraves into the 
youlhlul mind a projier abhorrence of evil 
Ihou'ihls and evil ilueds. 'I'l/is riiieslion of 
morality isuot so easy as is usually supposed— 
lliere are, in fact, few persona who can always 
correctly apply moral sjuoms to coaTersation 



7 

md business transactions. Exae^rations of 
itatcmcnt are fouuU in Berraons, and over-praise 
;f arlicles to Ijo sold are not uncommon. Bc- 
oie w(; can liaye more honesty in public affairs 
[re must have a hiulicr moral Fcntimcnt In the 
•ommunity. I tlo not care whetiicru Professor 
Huxley or a Catholic liishop prepared the moral 
lost liook, Eo lli:it it is i>lnin and thorou'rh, and 
Mi'oids (he introduction of thcoloirical doirmas. 
I'his fulji'Ct is one ol eo crcat Importance that 
It odL'lit to cxcile liic alicntion of ali who wish 
to nial'da stand aiiainsl I lie manifest increase of 
corriipiion in piivalc and public lile. Sunday 
Bcliools, AThicli ure chiifly encased In teaching 
llieoloiilcai douraas, arc crvilicly inadequate to 
(ITU a butficic'cv of purely moral in^'trucllons. 
I'ltot'Eit Female Edocatios. 
The masfL-s ol thcKrowinz female children 
bnvu no suitable educational facdiiics provideil 
lor their use. Tlie answer '. hatonr unlverEities, 
liiw and medical collcirus are now opened to 
all, is like the elit of a stone to those wlio hun- 
ger forurcad. The dauirhtcrs of our arllzans, 
tradcj^nicn, laborers and tmall farmers, have 
not the time to altnnu universities. Nor wouid 
it bo of any bcncDt to many bLcau=e they have 
not suUicicnt capacity, for neither the raaasesol 
men or women arc titled lor the prolessions. 

Inasmuch us the probabilities arc that lonr 
tcmales out of Dvc will get married, the Female 
Polytechuic tchoola should teach every branch 
of house-keep. n?, and particularly cooking. 
The waste oi bad cookery is Iriuhtful— fully 
equal 10 25 per cent of all the food consurued. 
Dul iiniBmueh as she may never be married, or 
become a widow, she ouqrht to have tue facility 
ol learning; a trade. The use ot the sewing and 
Uniliing machiiic, bonnet trimming, dress mak- 
ing, tailoring, fancy work, even earriagd trim- 
miug and paiulini;, and all sorts of trades flttcd 
!or woman should be taught freely to all. This 
Is the practical remedy lor four tilths ol the 
complaints we now hear. It is a great absurdi- 
ty to ilaiin that lemaies eet less wages than 
men because they eonnot vote. The reason they 
get fciualier pay is tiiat thcv do lesr satisfactory 
woik, and tliC chief cause of this is, that they 
bave to "pick up," whatever they may uuder- 
take, withouuhorou2h traininsj or preparation. 
I TraIjb Scudols Foii Males. 

I It Is about lime that something should be done 
to meet the want ol our growing youth that is 
pre van ted partly by Trades Unions, and partly 
by a loolisU public sentiment, from leaxuing 
ostful trades. To many youths anylhiug is pre- 
leraUlo to regular work. The street railways 
arc overrun with applications for conductor- 
ships, though the pay is only two dollars for 
tout teen hours work. The same men might £0t 
four dollars for ten Hour's work as machinists, 
carpoulcrs or masons. A trado is a sheet an- 
chor It ib a real and abiding capital — a never 
laiUug resource iu case ot failure elsewhere. 
Tuo leeling ol eccuiity and power of the man 
who can say, "very well, if all other means fail 
I CUD work at my trade" ; gives him courage to 
VBsothc battle of life witu success. I would 
eairuat the happiness pf my dauizhter a thous- 
acd limes rather to a competent mechanic than 
lo any young man, no matter how genteely 
eecmiiig, who baa uo regular protessioa or cal- 

The diploma given by a Polytechnic school of 
a b'gh grade, alter a thorough examination by 
experts, would be a passport to foremanships and 
•o-p&rUier£luf ■ wilh capitaHats. The gradoia- 



tlon of thesB youthrtrt mechanics, going forth 
into tlie world, full o( heart and hope that Ihey 
are able to toll and to build, would be witnessed 
and applauded by all classes of society. A 
graduated mechanic, with the training, air and 
polish of the studout, would be wclcomo In 
every social circle. 

Thus rau!«t labor bo honored, elevated and 
respected. And I ''ope that the Hcpubllcan 
State Governments will at onco initiate this 
beneflcient and necessary reform. 

Lastly, This system of education naturally 
leads to the last and most important ol all 
means for the elevation of the workinirmcn— the 
system of mutual co-oiieralion between capital- 
ists and workmen. VVueoeyer this system has 
been lairly tried. It ha.-i been a wonderiul suc- 
cess. It is tiue mere sham eo-parinerthms, 
wlierethe capitalists have tried to overreach the 
employes by Iraudulent entries and cliargcs, 
have tailed. But an honest and brotherly divi- 
sion of profltfi has always been a success. The 
profxisllion that the workingmaii should receive 
a stipulated fcum, and In addition a reasonable 
share ol profit, has every where produced sails- 
lactory results. But a ihorou?hiy educated and 
trained mechanical class will mjko these co- 
partnerships the rule instead ol iho exception. 
Conclusion. 
What a glorious countrjr ihii wiU be when w« 
have well educated and scieutilic arlizjns; whea 
the printer, the book-bindLT, ihj bhicssniith, aud 
the carpenter will be graduates from instiiuUons, 
takinif a pride iu their calhng, believing that they 
arenotoalv equal in law to all other men, but 
that their vocation is as honorable, as respec.able, 
and as conducivfi to the comfort and necessity of 
men as that of the lawyer, the doctor, or ihe mm- 
ister Thus we will have a real Irateruily, a broth- 
erhood not in speech but ia fact, a brotherhood 
of highly-skilled, intellectual men, who choose to 
be the line thing or the other, btcause they expect 
to excel in their respective callings. And thus will 
be realiiod the kindly doclarauoa of bcoiland a. 
poet of the people, that 

"Rank is but the guinea's stamp 
A man's a mau tor a' that." 
The Government of the United States is at 
present in honest hands, in safe hands, m patnoUc 
hands. No one doubts the painolism of I resi- 
dent Grant, by whose foresight and m htary skill, 
the workingman's cause was prevented from being 
the "lest cause," apd the coniederate or capitalist* 
cause was prevented from being the dominant 
cause. No one questions the high mtegruy or uo- 
approachable honesty of Secretary Bouiwell, who 
presides over our finances in these times oi rapaci- 
ty and curruptioQ, when men are more eager to 
accumulate fortunes than to retain reputaUoua for 
integrity. , . . 

We are about to lessen the burdens imposed upon 
us by the slave-holders' war, inaugurated under 
the auspices of the Democratic party, by paying 
ofiT— permanently destroying— the debt ol the 
United States, Thus we are not simply postpoo- 
ing payment by easy taxation now for gi eater lai- 
ation hereafter, but by prompt pnymunt of ih» 
principal, stop the interest and thus aUord per- 
manent reliet. Two hundred and thirty millions 
of dollars have thus already been paid, the interest 
on this sum is no less than fourieeu millons or 
dollars per year, and the retrenchment and relorn* 
inaugurated in other channels of the civil service 
will show at the and of Grant's administraiion, a 
balance sheet equal lo fifty millions ot dollars of 
leaa annaai expenditures thxaat iU begmmg. 



6 



■ The ereatneee of the nation, iti* jjOt^ev anu vi- 
tality, its civilization and manhooa must iiot be 
measured by its prod actions, nor by its com- 
merce, nor bv its manufactures ; the greatness, 
DOwer and durabiiity of the nation mu-^t be 
measured by the intellectual and moral worth 
of its peonlf^ ; bv their fru'rality, by their tera- 
pprateness, by their conscientious devotion to 
duty, by their Felf-sacrificesonthealtar of truth. 
Prndtiction and commerce onlv show prosneritv 
m a coav=er form. It is the literature, the 
poetrv, the art?, and the religion of the land 
which are the criterion by which to judge of its 
permanency and power. > 

America is the ref^ervoir into which the most 
enersretic and enterpriiina: elf^ment? of all na- 
tions have Doured and are Donrinqr. It is a crreat 
nation, grand in its plivsical p'-oportions, ^rand 
in its nolitical institutions, grand .in its moral 
asp-rations, grand in its patriotic devotion and 
hope of a permanent life ; and grand in its ex- 
ample to other nations. 

Let us then rally all the progressive elements, 
all that is mora! and virtuous, into one power- 
ful and harmonious oartv, sacrificing private 
views as far as may be for the sake of uoholding 
our Government, and handing it down to our 
children, ever increasing in power and glory, 

A SUMMARY. • 
What the Repttulio a.n party has done, is 

PROOF OF WHAT IT WILL DO. 

1st. Among the first act9 of the Republican 
Congress, after some necessary measnrrs to resist 
the DeinocraLic Rebellion, was the adoption of 
the Homestead law, under which the whole mass 
of Ihe public domain is opened to the possession 
and ownership or the laboring man, upon the 
condition of settlement and cultivation, at the 
nominal price of $10 for a 160 acres. 

2nd. Provision was made by which this vast 
property is largely enhanced in value, and ren- 
dered accessible to men of limited means, over 
the lines of the Trans-continental Railrond — the 
construction of which, had. been, delayed Tmdec 



' Democratic mJe, by I -e fek./ that free laTKW 
would possess this rich Inheritance, to the ex- 
clusion of slave labor. 

3rd. The whole system of servile labor was 
abolished by the Republican partv, in spite of 
the united and persistent opposition of the 
Democracy in Congress and on the battle fleM. 

4th. A?ain, the whole mass of mirequit-edlabf ,['''* 
was lifted to the dignity of the country's defer ''".• 
ders, thereby giving it enlarged opnortunitipir"'* 
enabling it to command the attention and tv'^^* 
sympathies of the nation, and rendering i " 
future subjection to bondage absolutely ii '^^'^ 
possible, ^sar? 

5th. This whole class w»s endowed with citr 
zenship and all its rights and advantages-against 
all of wliich acts, the Democrats in Conrrresa 
and in the States, recorded a united negative — 
yet it is easy to see that each successive ste; ' 
added immeasurablv to the dignity and pov "*" 
of labor. ' '"a"'- 

6th. The whole remaining public lands off'. 
South, were reserved from sale, and approprinted 
to the exclnsiye use of actual eotth'rs, by which 
the landless laborers of that section, c^rae to 
the ownership of more that 45,000,00,0 acres, 
sufficient for half a million of homes of 80 acres 
each, and by which, also, the further progress 
of land monopoly in that section is forevf 
stopped. 

7th. It has given guaranty by a solemn and 
unanimous declaration of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, that the futnre land policv of ttie 
party shall be in the interest of individual occu- 
pation and ownership, and opposed to sales or 
grants nnder conditions, which will admit the 
further growth of personal or corporate mo- 
nopoly. 

8th. And finally it has given practical evidence 
of its fidelity to the principles of land distribu- 
tion to actual occupatits, through its organizec* 
land committees, and in the defeat of numeron 
land grant bills? at the recent 8e»«*'^ of Cou- 



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